BHUBANESWAR: Election trends never cease to amaze. This was evident by the BJP’s performance in the recently-concluded elections. The party lost nine of the 10 Assembly seats it had won in 2014 polls while improving its tally to 23. It managed to retain only the Deogarh Assembly seat and conceded defeat to the BJD in eight other constituencies. It lost the Khariar Assembly seat to Congress. Two-time MLA Subash Chandra Panigrahi was the saving grace as he registered a win from Deogarh which was represented by Nitesh Ganga Deb. Panigrahi was lucky to get BJP nomination after Nitesh was asked to contest from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat. The scion of the Deogarh royal family and a two-time MLA is among the eight successful MPs of BJP.
Delivering a shock to BJP, the regional party wrested the Patnagarh seat from where KV Singh Deo of Balangir royal family was elected five times on the trot. However this time, Singh Deo had to face defeat and that too at the hands of a political greenhorn Saroj Kumar Meher of BJD.
The BJD Juggernaut rolled into Chilika and Kuchinda Assembly segments which had been saffron strongholds. The party had fielded Prithiviraj Harichandan, son of BJP veteran and former minister Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, in Chilika by replacing his brother and sitting MLA Bibhuti Bhusan Harichandan who had won thrice from the constituency.
Chilika was considered to be a safe seat for the BJP but not this time as former BJD MLA of Begunia Prasant Kumar Jagdev snatched victory. Similar was the situation in Kuchinda Assembly seat which the BJP had won thrice since 2000. However this time, the seat went to the BJD kitty. The constituency also witnessed an interesting trend as senior BJP leader Rabi Narayan Naik was defeated by BJD’s Kishore Chandra Naik, a first timer, by a margin of 3,500 votes.
Pradip Purohit and Radharani Panda are two other prominent faces of BJP and legislators in the 15th Assembly who faced defeat at the hands of two BJD veterans. While former minister Bijaya Ranjan Singh Bariha defeated Purohit in Padampur, former speaker Kishore Mohanty won the Brajarajnagar seat with an impressive margin by defeating Radharani.
Gobind Chandra Das was the other sitting MLA of the BJP to lose the election. He was seeking re-election from Remuna Assembly segment of Balasore Parliamentary constituency. He was trounced by Sudhansu Sekhar Parida of BJD by a margin of 4,118 votes.
The sitting MLAs of Nuapada and Rourkela did not contest this time. While BJP’s State president and Nuapada MLA Basanta Panda made it to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Kalahandi leaving the Nuapada Assembly seat to Ghasiram Majhi, the party had nominated Nihar Ray from Rourkela after sitting MLA and former Union Minister Dilip Ray quit the BJP. The two Assembly seats went to the BJD.
The BJP failed to retain the Khariar Assembly seat which it had won last time. Former Minister Duryodhan Majhi was elected from the seat in 2014. After denial of ticket to Majhi, the five-time MLA joined the BJD. The BJP had fielded wife of former MLA Hitesh Bagarti, Rita, from Khariar. Congress candidate Adhiraj Mohan Panigrahi was the surprise winner from the seat.
Poll performance
● BJP lost nine of the 10 Assembly seats it had won in 2014 polls while improving its tally to 23
● The party managed to retain only the Deogarh Assembly seat and conceded defeat to BJD in eight other constituencies
● Pradip Purohit and Radharani Panda are two other prominent faces of BJP who tasted defeat
● BJP failed to retain Khariar which it had won last time