Bhubaneswar, May 23
The Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is set to retain power for an unprecedented fifth consecutive term in Odisha as the regional party on Thursday completely decimated the Opposition in the state Assembly.
The BJD was comfortably leading in more than 115 seats out of a total 146 in the state Assembly.
Patnaik also bucked the national trend where the BJP appeared sweeping most parts of the country.
Patnaik will be the third Chief Minister in the country to be in power for fifth consecutive term after former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling. Presently, Chamling is the longest serving Chief Minister in the country.
The BJD president came to power in March 2000 elections with an alliance with the BJP. Since then he has been winning elections after elections and bettering his tally in every polls.
The BJD has improved its performance over the last three state elections — 61 seats in 2004, 103 seats in 2009, and 117 seats in 2014.
Modi congratulated Patnaik for winning the state Assembly elections a record consecutive fifth time. “Congratulations to Naveen Babu for yet another victory in Odisha. Wishing him the very best for the next term,” Modi tweeted.
Of the 146 Assembly seats, the BJD was leading in 115 seats, BJP 21, Congress eight and others two seats.
In the Lok Sabha seats, the BJD was leading in 14 and BJP seven seats. Simultaneous elections were held for 21 Lok Sabha and 146 Assembly seats in four phases in the state.
Meanwhile, the BJP appeared set for major gains in Lok Sabha polls in Odisha with its candidates leading in nine seats, while the ruling BJD is ahead in 12.
As per the latest trend, BJP candidates are leading in Balasore, Bargarh, Bhubaneswar, Balangir, Kalahandi, Sundargarh, Sambalpur and Puri, Chief Electoral Officer, Surendra Kumar said.
This is a great shift from 2014 when the saffron party had won only one out of the 21 Lok Sabha seats. — PTI
BJP scores big in ls results
- The BJP appeared set for major gains in Lok Sabha polls in Odisha with its candidates leading in eight seats, while the ruling BJD is ahead in 12. This is a great shift from 2014 when the BJP had won only one out of the 21 LS seats
- The BJD which had a spectacular show in the 2014 polls by winning 20 of the 21 LS seats, saw its tally sliding slightly as its candidates were now leading in 12 seats
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2Hydn7E
via Today’s News Headlines
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