Breaking off its long partnership with the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Biju Janata Dal and its new allies won both the Lok Sabha and assembly elections held in Orissa in April 2009. The Congress proved too inept to take advantage of the changed political scenario, while the BJP found itself pushed out of the picture. A major factor that contributed to the BJD victory was Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's personal popularity. Added to the party's reasonable performance in power, this prompted the state's electorate to once again buck the anti-incumbency trend and re-elect the ruling party with an expanded majority.