Naveen Patnaik set to return as Odisha CM but likely to lose national clout to BJP

Naveen Patnaik set to return as Odisha CM but likely to lose national clout to BJP

File photo of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. | PTI

New Delhi: Naveen Patnaik may be set for a fifth straight term in Odisha but the chief minister won’t be too happy with the Biju Janata Dal’s performance in the Lok Sabha elections as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is clearly making inroads in the eastern state, show early poll trends.

In the state assembly elections, the BJD leading in 99 of the state’s 147 seats — comfortably over the majority mark. The BJP is leading in 26 seats, show CNN News18 figures.

However, the BJP is leading in 9 Lok Sabha seats out of the state’s 21, as against the BJD’s 11.

The BJP’s lead in Odisha is significant considering the fact that the party won just one seat in 2014. The BJD had won 20 of the 21 seats in 2014.

Important seats

In the high-profile Puri contest, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra is leading by over 1,184 votes, shows Election Commission of India trends.

Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, who shifted from BJD to BJP just before the Lok Sabha elections, is trailing from Kendrapada by over 1,312 votes behind BJD’s Anubhav Mohanty.

Aparajita Sarangi, former IAS officer and BJP candidate from Bhubaneshwar, is leading by almost 9,000 votes from Bhubaneshwar.

BJP’s Jual Oram is leading in Sundargarh, the sole seat which the BJP won in 2014. BJP candidates are also leading in Bargarh, Bhadrak, among other seats.

To get the latest live updates on the Lok Sabha elections, click here 

BJP’s rise in state

The Narendra Modi-led party’s rise in Odisha has been at the expense of the Congress, which got completely decimated in the state. In the absence of any credible opposition in the state, the anti-BJD votes seems to have gone to the BJP.

The BJP also focussed its attention on Odisha after coming to power in 2014. Two leaders from the state — Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan — were given cabinet berths.
Both Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah campaigned aggressively in the state this time around.

The BJD, which has been in power in the state for 19 years now, was forced to up its ante to take on a dynamic BJP. For the Lok Sabha elections, the BJD did not repeat 17 of its 21 MPs. The party also launched a plethora of pro-poor schemes to woo state’s voters.