BJP set to form government in Odisha; CM Naveen Patnaik-led BJD trails far behind

CM Naveen Patnaik, who contested from 2 seats, lost from Kantabanji

By Sukant Mohanty

Bhubaneswar, June 4:  The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to form the new government in Odisha, bringing an end to the 24 years of rule of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) led by chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

This is for the first time the BJP is going to form a government of its own in the eastern Indian state.

A high-voltage campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw the party coming close to win at least 80 of the 147 seats. Braving extreme heat conditions, the PM had held eight massive public rallies and two roadshows in the state.

Besides, Union home minister Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda, chief ministers of Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan also undertook massive campaign activities in the state.

By the time this report was filed, the saffron party had won 45 seats and was leading in 33 seats. Similarly, the ruling party had won 32  seats and maintained a lead in 19 seats.

The Congress, the third largest political force in the state, had won six seats and was leading in eight seats while the Independents had won two seats and were leading in one seat.

Of the 21 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP had won while it was leading in 15 seats. The Biju Janata Dal  and Indian National Congress were leading in one seat each.

The BJP’s candidates Pradeep purohit (Bargarh), Ananta Nayak (Keonjhar), Bhartruhari Mahatab (Cuttack), and Aparajita Sarangi (Bhubaneswar) were declared winners.

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP national vice president Baijayant Jay Panda and national spokesperson Dr Sambit Patra were well ahead of their BJD contenders in Sambalpur, Kendrapara and Puri, respectively.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik who contested two seats — Hinjili and Kantabanji assembly seats— lost from the latter (Kantabanji).

Many senior BJD leaders, including ministers such as Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak and Pradip Kumar lost the assembly polls.

BJD’s No. 3 leader Pranab Prakash Das who contested from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat and his mother Sandhyarani Das (Korei assembly seat) also lost elections.

Sources said CM Naveen Patnaik is likely to resign after the results are declared later in the evening.

BJP’s Bhubaneswar candidate Aparajita Sarangi credited the victory of BJD to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and the hard work of Union home minister Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda and many other central leaders.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi led us from the front. Once he declared that Odisha will on June 10 have BJP chief minister, people believed his words and worked hard to see that the Naveen Patnaik government was voted out of power,” said Sarangi.