Naveen Patnaik-led BJD is the winner in Odisha but BJP improved its tally in both the Lok Sabha and the Assembly.
Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik brushed off the 'Modi Wave' in the country to win the state Assembly elections and return to power for a fifth consecutive term. However, BJP managed big gains in Odisha in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections improving their numbers by a big margin.
1. Naveen Patnaik survives Modi Wave
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Naveen Patnaik will become the third chief minister after Sikkim's Pawan Chamling and West Bengal's Jyoti Basu, to return to power for a fifth consecutive term. His party is expected to earn 112 seats out of 146 seats in the assembly. In the Lok Sabha elections, BJD is taking in 12 Lok Sabha constituencies out of 21. (Image: PTI)
2. Naveen protects his home turf
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Patnaik who has been chief minister of Odisha since 2000, is considered to be the most successful and popular Chief Minister of the state; known for his clean image. During his tenure, Odisha the second fastest developing economy of the country. He founded the BJD, after the demise of his father Biju Patnaik, and started his political journey as an elected member of the 11th Lok Sabha being elected in the by-election from Aska Parliamentary Constituency in Odisha.
Patnaik was the Union Minister for Steel and Mines, in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre from 1998-2000. After BJD won a majority of seats in alliance with the BJP in the 2000 Odisha Assembly elections, Naveen Patnaik resigned from the Union cabinet and was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Odisha in 2000. However, he later parted ways from NDA. (Image: PTI)
3. BJP improves showing in Odisha Lok Sabha polls
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While the BJP juggernaut in the country has been halted in Odisha, the party BJP has improved its Lok Sabha performance in Odisha by winning 8 seats out of the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. This is a great shift from 2014 when it had won only one Lok Sabha seat in the state.
BJP has also improved in state election, taking 23 seats. It will replace Congress as the biggest opposition party in the state. In the 2014 Assembly elections, BJD had secured 117 seats while BJP bagged 10 seats. Congress won 16 seats in the state.
4. Baijayant Panda, Sambit Patra lose
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Union Minister Jual Oram, BJP national secretary Suresh Pujari, former bureaucrat Aparajita Sarangi are among the prominent BJP winners. However, BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda and national spokesperson of the saffron party Sambit Patra are among the losers.
In Kendrapara, Panda was defeated by BJD candidate Anubhav Mohanty with a margin of 1,52,584 votes. Panda, who was elected from Kendrapara in 2014 polls as a BJD candidate, had resigned from the regional party and Lok Sabha membership last year following differences with the leadership. In Puri, Pinaki Mishra of the BJD defeated BJP's Sambit Patra by 11,714 votes.
5. BJP earns huge vote share in Lok Sabha
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The vote share figures in Odisha clearly show that BJP was not too behind BJD in Lok Sabha Election 2019. While the BJD earned 42.76% of votes in Lok Sabha polls, BJP got 38.38% of the vote share. Congress was reduced to just 13.80%. (Image; ECI)
6. BJD way ahead in Vidhan Sabha
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BJP have a much better advantage in Vidhan Sabha polls. BJD earned 44.71% of votes in assembly polls while BJP got 32.50% of the vote share. Congress got 16.12% of the votes. (Image: ECI)
