Odisha Assembly election result highlights: BJP wins sweeps Odisha, set to form government for the first time

In what can be described as a historic upset, the 24-year tenure of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s government is set to come to an end, with the aggressive Bharatiya Janata Party poised to form government with a narrow majority in Odisha.

By 8 p.m., the BJP had won 35 seats while its candidates had extended their victory margin in another 42 seats. The halfway mark for forming the government is 74 in 147-member Odisha Legislative Assembly.

Strong anti-incumbency sentiments coupled with widespread ire against dominance of V. K. Pandian, the Tamil Nadu-born former bureaucrat in governance and party affairs, had brought down the BJD’s citadel in this eastern Indian State. 

BJD candidate Sarada Prasad Nayak won the Rourkela seat by a margin of 3500 votes. 

Mr. Nayak defeated BJP’s Dilip Kumar Ray, who was the richest candidate in the Assembly elections.

BJP candidate from Raghunathpali Durga Charan Tanti won by a margin of nearly 6000 votes

BJP’s Tankadhar Tripathy defeats BJD’s Dipali Das by a margin of 1333 votes to win the Jharsuguda seat.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is trailing in Kantabanji assembly seat by 3283 votes after 15 rounds of vote counting.

BJP candidate Ashwini Kumar Sarangi defeated BJD’s Debesh Acharya by a margin of 4772 votes.

Rupali Lenka, an independent candidate from Cuttak Choudwar, is trailing.

Ms. Lenka contested as an independent candidate after she was denied a ticket by the ruling BJD.

CPI (M) candidate Laxman Munda leading from the Bonai seat.

Mr. Munda was elected as MLA from the Bonai (ST) assembly constituency of the Sundargarh district in the 2004, 2014 and 2019 elections. 

CPI (M) has fielded only two candidates for the Assembly election.

Former Chief Minister late J. B. Patnaik’s son, Pruthvi Ballav Patnaik, who made his electoral debut is trailing from the Begunia seat. 

Mr. Pruthvi, a businessman, is former Odisha CM J. B. Patnaik’s son. His father dominated politics in the State for two decades. His mother, the late Jayanti Patnaik, was a former MP. 

Despite hailing from an established political family, Mr. Pruthvi had shown little interest in running for office. 

Debasmita Sharma, a doctor who had left her government job to enter the political fray, is trailing from the Aul constituency

Rama Chandra Badatya, CPI (M) candidate from Aska who is a mason by profession, was trailing.

Mr. Badatya had entered the poll fray for the cayuse of labourers and their rights.

Hemant Soren’s sister, Anajani Soren, who has been fielded from the Saraskana Assembly seat, as well as the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat. 

Though she was leading in the morning, Ms. Soren is now trailing behind two candidates. BJP’s Bhadav Hansdah is leading from the seat, followed by BJD’s Debashis Marndi.

Biju Janata Dal seems to be catching up to the leads accumulated by the BJP in the early rounds of counting. 

As per the latest trends by the ECI, on 12.55 p.m., BJP’s leads which had crossed the halfway mark, have now been brought down to 70 seats. Meanwhile, BJD is seen leading in 61 seats. 

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who was trailing from one of the two seats he is contesting, is now leading from both -- Kantabanji and Hinjili.

With BJP maintaining a consistent lead in the Assembly elections, here is how some of the BJD Cabinet Ministers are faring:

1. Sarada Prasad Nayak (Labour & Employees’ State Insurance): Neck-to-neck with BJP’s Dilip Kumar Sahay from Rourkela.

2. Pradip Kumar Amat (Forest & Environment, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water, Information & Public Relations): Trailing by a slim margin behind BJP’s Saroj Kumar Pradhan from Boudh.

3. Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak (Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare, Co-operation, Higher Education): Trailing behind BJP’s Durga Prasan Nayak from Mahakalapada

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Incumbent Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik established an early lead from the second seat he is contesting -- Hinjili 

The Odisha CM is running for re-election from his long-time Assembly constituency of Hinjili and the newly selected Kantabanji constituency. 

While Mr. Patnaik had established an early from Kantabanji as well, in the third round of counting, he was shown as trailing behind BJP’s Laxman Bag.

As on 11.35 a.m., the data on the Election Commission’s website showed the Bharatiya Janata Party crossing halfway mark in leads in the Odisha Assembly elections.

With the saffron party leading in 76 seats, it was followed by the incumbent Biju Janata Dal leading in 53 seats. While Congress led in 12 seats, CPI(M) and Independent candidates led from the rest. 

Of the 147 Assembly seats, trends are available for 144 seats.

The early trends by the Election Commission of India indicate an upset for the ruling Biju Janata Dal, as the BJP gains leads in nearly half the seats. 

As a regional party, the BJD too has never been in out of power since its formation on December 26, 1997. Till 2009, both the BJD and the BJP remained in alliance.

After the regional party severed its ties with the BJP just before the 2009 election over the issue of anti-Christian riots, the party has consistently won over 100 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly in 2009, 2014 and 2019 State elections. The party has also fared outstandingly in the Lok Sabha elections despite fighting solo after 2009.

In the history spanning over more than two and half decades, the BJD is arguably facing its toughest electoral challenge in the current elections, struggling to replicate its past remarkable performances in the face of a strong wave of anti-incumbency.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has extended its positive early trends, and has established a lead from 64 seats.

Meanwhile, the incumbent BJD is leading from 44 seats, followed by Congress (12).

Trends are only available for 124 seats so far. 

Teh sister of Hemant Soren, Anajani Soren is currently contesting both the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat and the Saraskana Assembly seat. She is supported by the Congress, a partner in the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA bloc). Besides her candidacy in Saraskana, the JMM has fielded candidates in four other Assembly seats.

Based on the positive early trends, celebrations have broken out in Odisha BJP’s party office in Bhubaneswar. 

Of the 147 seats, BJP is leading in 47 seats, while the BJD is leading from 28 others. 

Of the two seats that incumbent Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is contesting, he has established a slim lead of just over 150 votes in Kantabanji. 

Here he is facing off BJP’s Laxman Bag

With over two hours of vote counting done, BJP is maintaining its lead in Odisha Assembly elections. 

As on 10.15 a.m., this is how the lead situation looks: 

Bharatiya Janata Party: 43 seats

Biju Janata Dal: 24 seats

Congress: 5 seats

CPI(M): 1

Independent: 1

As per the exit polls, while one agency has predicted equal seat brackets for both the BJP and the BJD, other agencies have given clear edge for the regional party in the Assembly elections. Majority of exit polls have anticipated higher number of seats for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.

According to Axis My India exit poll, BJD and BJP are expected to win 62-80 seats. The Congress is expected to win 5 to 8 seats.

The exit polls further said that the BJP is expected to gather a 48% vote share while the BJD is predicted to get a vote share of 42%.

Ahead of the counting day, the Opposition-led INDIA bloc on Sunday had asked the poll body to issue directions to Returning Officers to ensure that postal ballots are counted and their results declared before the outcome of the EVMs is announced. In a letter to the ECI, the Opposition leaders highlighted that the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 states that the Returning Officer has to begin the process of counting postal ballots first. However, they claimed that this statutory practice was repealed and given a “go-by” by the poll body despite its 2019 guidelines to this effect.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said strict instructions have been passed to ensure complete transparency in the ongoing process of counting of votes.

Instructions have been given to all chief electoral officers, district magistrates, observers and superintendents of police to ensure transparency in the counting process according to rules.

Kumar said strict instructions have been issued to include candidates and their counting agents in the entire process.

Instructions have also been passed to cover the entire process using CCTV cameras on a round-the-clock basis.

- PTI

The latest ECI trends showcase the BJP leading on 14 of the 27 seats, for whom the data is currently available.

Other leads are as follows:

Biju Janata Dal: 9

Congress party: 2

CPI(M): 1

Independent: 1

As per the Election Commission of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party has established a lead in eight seats, meanwhile the ruling Biju Janata Dal is leading in five seats. Independent candidate Soumya Ranjan Patnaik is leading from Ghasipura.

BJP’s Suresh Pujari has established its early lead from the Brajarajnagar constituency. The seat has been with the BJD since 2019, who also retained it in the 2022 bypoll. 

The Biju Janata Dal kicked off the counting for 147 Assembly seats by establishing a lead in the Jharsuguda, from where it has fielded Dipali Das. 

As Odisha’s scorching daytime temperatures continue to rise, life slows to a standstill, and political campaigning feels the heat. Bhrugu Baxipatra, the BJD candidate in Berhampur, faces a daunting task in the coming weeks. His transition from the BJP to the BJD saw him swiftly nominated as the regional party’s candidate for Berhampur, thrusting him into a whirlwind of unfamiliar faces and campaign dynamics in the middle of poll season.

While you wait for results, click here to catch up on The Hindu’s coverage of Odisha Assembly elections

The current Odisha Legislative Assembly was dissolved on June 3 by Governor Raghubar Das following a recommendation by the State Cabinet chaired by the Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, the BJD has asserted that it would better its past performances and form the government by winning 75% of total seats in the Assembly. At the same time, BJP’s Dharmendra Pradhan has stated that “change in Odisha is imminent. Respecting the assurance given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and our leadership, people of Odisha are going to install a BJP government for the first time. The change has already taken place.”

The last Assembly election in Odisha, which took place in 2019, saw the victorious continuation of its ruling government led by the Biju Janata Dal.

Of the 147 seats, the BJD took a mammoth share of 112, followed by the BJP which won 23, while Congress was relegated to nine seats only. 

In 2019, both BJD and Congress had seen a reduction in their number of seats. While BJD was five seats short of its 2014 number, Congress was seven short. Consequently, the BJP was seen gaining 13 seats, upping its tally from 10 seats. 

As we await the results, for the Assembly elections, here’s a look back at how the high stakes political fight panned out between the ruling Biju Janata Dal and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.

In the history spanning over more than two and half decades, the BJD is arguably facing its toughest electoral challenge in the current elections, struggling to replicate its past remarkable performances in the face of a strong wave of anti-incumbency. For the BJP, this election represents perhaps their best opportunity to capture an unconquered State despite repeated efforts in the past.

The Election Commission has made elaborate preparations for counting of votes for 21 the Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats in Odisha.

Counting will be held in 70 centres throughout the state starting at 8 am today, officials said.

More than 67,000 ballot units, along with 1.47 lakh postal ballots for Lok Sabha elections and 1.46 lakh for assembly elections, will be tallied across the 70 centres.

Counting halls have been air-conditioned due to the heatwave, with power generators on standby, CCTVs installed, and fire fighting teams stationed.

- PTI