In stunning blow, BJD draws a blank. BJP takes 20, Congress bags the other | Bhubaneswar News
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Not a single BJD candidate won a Lok Sabha seat. In 2019, BJD had won 12 seats and BJP eight. Highlighting the “good work” of the Modi govt, BJP had sought votes for a “double-engine govt” in the simultaneous Odisha assembly and LS polls.
The strategic importance of winning Odisha in PM Modi’s political calculus was evident from his victory speech in Delhi. After exclaiming “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, he followed up with “Jai Jagannath”, highlighting the significance of Odisha in the party’s plans. “It will be for the first time that there will be a BJP CM in the land of Mahaprabhu Lord Jagannath,” he said.
Behind BJP’s success lay its effective campaign strategy that emphasised the importance of voting for Modi. The PM had argued in rallies that votes for BJD would go waste due to its lack of national relevance. BJP also banked on Naveen’s “falling health”, “outsourced govt” and anti-incumbency.
Lok Sabha Elections
Assembly Elections
“Thank You Odisha… BJP will leave no stone unturned in fulfilling the dreams of the people and taking Odisha to new heights of progress,” Modi said in a post on X.
Analysts said BJD seemed to have lost its independent identity because of its blind support to the Modi dispensation on every initiative.
BJP’s success extended to chief minister Naveen Patnaik‘s home district of Ganjam, where the party won both Aska and Berhampur seats. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan was leading over BJD’s Pranab Prakash Das in Sambalpur by over one lakh votes. Former Union minister Jual Oram was leading former Indian Hockey captain Dilip Tirkey by a similar margin from Sundargarh. In Balasore, former Union minister Pratap Sarangi secured his seat, defeating BJD’s Lekhasri Samanatasinghar, who had recently defected from BJP, by more than one lakh votes.
Kendrapara, known as the “karmabhooomi” of the late Biju Patnaik, also fell into BJP’s kitty, with Baijayant Panda defeating BJD’s Anshuman Mohanty. Pradeep Panigrahy, a former BJD MLA who was expelled from the party, emerged victorious in Berhampur by over 1.6 lakh votes. In another notable contest, BJD veteran Bhartruhari Mahatab, who had joined BJP, defeated Santrupt Misra, a former top executive of the Aditya Birla Group and a political debutant from BJD.