Bhubaneswar: BJD’s loss of Ekamra-Bhubaneswar constituency is particularly noteworthy with it being the place where chief minister Naveen Patnaik himself lives and cast his vote.
BJD’s sitting MLA Ashok Chandra Panda lost to BJP’s Babu Singh by 5,023 votes. While BJD’s loss in Ekamra indicated the dent BJP created in the city-based constituency, it also lent an impression of waning vote banks in the name of Naveen.Furthermore, Naveen also faced defeat in his second constituency, Kantabanji, adding to the setbacks experienced by BJD in this election. In Kantabanji, the CM lost to BJP’s Laxman Bag by 16,344 votes.
Ekamra constituency is a mix of old and new Bhubaneswar with Naveen Niwas and airport part of it. Panda had been winning Ekamra seat since 2009. What is even interesting is BJP couldn’t defeat BJD in the two other city-based constituencies (North and Central) but it captured Ekamra. In Bhubaneswar-North, BJD’s Susanta Rout won by a huge margin while in Central seat, BJD’s Ananta Narayan Jena won by a whisker.
Even if BJP captured the Lok Sabha seat in 2019, all the three city-based seats were won by BJD. This indicated a huge BJP surge in the Old town areas, said poll analyst Nihar Patra.

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