)
The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was leading in 117 of the 147 Assembly seats in Odisha, riding on the charisma of party chief and chief minister Naveen Patnaik and the party’s development plank and pro-poor schemes.
Patnaik is set to return to take charge of the state for a record fourth term. In the 2009 elections, the BJD had won 103 seats, after severing ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). With the announcement of the BJD’s clean sweep in the elections a mere formality, Patnaik dedicated the win to the citizens of the state. “The win is not the victory of the BJD; it is the victory of 40 million Odia people. It is a feat of all the people loving the state. The elections have proved people have faith in the government’s clean and good governance and the ideology of the party,” he told the media.
Thanking party workers, he said the BJD was again re-dedicating itself to the development and pride of the state.
Trends show the party is set to secure the highest vote share in the state (43 per cent). The BJD is followed by the Congress (16 seats and a vote share of 25.9 per cent). The BJP is third, with 10 seats and a vote share of 18 per cent.
