Saffron surge in Odisha: BJP wins 29 Assembly seats; set to breach BJD's coastal LS fortress

With the BJP poised to defeat five-time chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s BJD to form government in Odisha in an unprecedented win in 24 years, its candidates have been declared winners in 29 Assembly seats and while others are leading 50 seats.

The BJD in contrast has been able to win 21 Assembly seats while establishing leads in 29 others. The Congress has won two seats and is leading in 12. The CPI(M) is leading in one seat.

The BJP which cashed in on the 'anti-Pandian' factor to canvass for votes, launched an aggressive campaign in the state this time, promising voters to install not an "outsider", but an Odia face as chief minister.

BJP wins

BJP candidate Prithviraj Hairchandran won the Chilika Assembly constituency defeating his nearest BJD rival Raghunath Sahu by 4,566 votes while saffron party candidate Ashwini Kumar Sarangi won the Bargarh Assembly seat by defeating his nearest rival Debesh Acharya of BJD by 4,772 votes.

BJP's Durga Prasad Tanti won the Raghunathpalli assembly segment by a margin of 5,774 votes defeating his nearest rival Archanarekha Behera of BJD.

The saffron party's Tankadhar Tripathy won the Jharsuguda assembly segment by defeating his nearest rival Depali Das of BJD by a margin of 1,333 votes.

BJP candidate Irasis Acharya won the Assembly poll from Bhatli constituency defeating BJD's Susanta Singh of BJD by 27,892.

The other BJP nominees who won are Bhabani Shankar Bhoi (Talsara), Padma Charan Haiburu (Karanjia), Kanhai Charan Danga (Kantamal), Dusmanta Kumar Swain (Khandapada) and Fakir Mohan Naik (Telkoi).

8 ministers in Patnaik cabinet trailing

At least eight ministers in Naveen Patnaik's cabinet are trailing in the Odisha assembly election.

Forest and Environment Minister Pradip Kumar Amat, Works Minister Prafulla Kumar Mallik, Higher Education minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Transport minister Tukuni Sahu, Science and Technology Minister Ashok Chandra Panda, Finance Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha, Handlooms and Textiles Minister Rita Sahu and Women & Child Development Minister Basanti Hembram are trailing.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who is contesting from the twin seats of Hinjili and Kantabanji is leading from the former and trailing from the latter.

Senior BJD leader and Odisha Assembly speaker Pramila Mallik won the assembly poll from Binjharpur constituency. Mallik won the seat with a margin of 2,856 votes against her nearest rival Babita Mallick of BJP.

BJD candidate Sarada Prasad Nayak won the Rourkela assembly seat by defeating his nearest rival Dilip Kumar Ray of BJP by 3,552 votes. BJD candidate

Ganeswar Behera also won from the Kendrapada seat. Other BJD candidates who won the polls are Braja Kishore Pradhan (Talcher), Adhiraj Mohan Panigrahi (Khariar), Manohar Randhari (Dabugam), Chakramani Kanhar (Baliguda) and Devi Ranjan Tripathy (Banki).

However, six-time BJD MLA Bikram Keshari Arukh faced defeat in the hands of BJP’s Pradyumna Naik in the Bhanjanagar constituency.

Congress candidate Mangu Khilla won the Chitrakonda Assembly segment by defeating his nearest rival Dambaru Sisa of BJP by 9,151 votes.

Other prominent BJD leaders trailing were Debi Prasad Mishra, Kallikesh Narayan Singh Deo, Susanta Singh, Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik, Prafulla Samal, Snehangini Chhuria, Pushpendra Singh Deo, Ramesh Majhi and Dibya Shankar Mishra.

CPI(M) candidate was leading in one Assembly seat while Independents were leading in three seats.

Major LS win in coastal Odisha

The saffron party, which won only eight Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 polls – a majority of them being in western Odisha – is leading in at least 19 of the total 21 parliamentary constituencies this time.

Most importantly its candidates are leading in the five of six (Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur) coastal Lok Sabha seats – traditionally a stronghold of the BJP – reflecting the high incumbency against the Naveen Patnaik government.

While the BJP had won the Mayurbhanj and Balsore seats in 2019, the BJD had won Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur. This time, the BJP is leading in all the seats barring Jajpur where the BJD is taking the lead.

The BJP’s sweep in coastal Odisha – Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur – known as the BJD bastion shows reflects the high incumbency against the Naveen Patnaik government.