BHUBANESWAR: The outcome of the simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the State has sprung many surprises for the BJD. While several leaders fell from the seat of power after being rejected by voters, a number of new faces successfully sailed through by riding on the wave of brand Naveen Patnaik. What has left the BJD strategists guessing is the fact that seven of the nine LS candidates bit the dust despite polling more votes than the last General Election. The party lost Bhubaneswar, Balasore, Bargarh, Balangir, Sambalpur, Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj, Koraput and Sundargarh constituencies to BJP, except Koraput which went to Congress.
Rajya Sabha MP and BJD candidate from Bargarh Prasanna Acharya secured 5,17,306 votes compared to 3,83,230 votes of the ruling party nominee in 2014 polls Prabhas Kumar Singh. However, Acharya lost to BJP’s Suresh Pujari who got 5,81,245 votes. In Sambalpur, former bureaucrat and BJD candidate Nalinikanta Pradhan polled 4,64,608 votes compared to 3,58,618 votes secured by the ruling party’s Nagendra Pradhan in 2014 but was defeated by BJP’s Nitesh Ganga Deb.
Similar is the case in Kalahandi where former Minister Puspendra Singhdeo despite polling 4,06,260 votes compared to 3,70,871 votes secured by the party nominee in 2014 lost to BJP’s Basanta Kumar Panda.
In Balasore, BJD’s Rabindra Kumar Jena polled 4,70,902 votes in comparison to 4,33,768 in 2014 but was defeated by BJP’s Pratap Sarangi.
The candidates from Sundargarh and Koraput, however, polled less votes than the previous election. Poll analysts blamed it on the selection of candidates. In Sundargarh, BJD dropped former Indian hockey team captain Dilip Tirkey and fielded veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister Hemananda Biswal’s daughter Sunita. In Koraput, the party nominated former MP Jhina Hikaka’s wife Kausalya Hikaka. While Sunita managed to poll 2,76,991 votes compared to 3,21,679 votes polled by Dilip in the last elections, Kausalya bagged 3,67,516 votes against 3,95,109 votes polled by her husband in 2014.
Surprisingly, in all Assembly segments that fall under the LS seats which BJD lost, the vote share of the regional party increased substantially. BJD won all seven Assembly segments under Bargarh LS constituency, six in Bhubaneswar, five in Kalahandi and four seats each under Sambalpur, Balasore and Balangir.
In Bargarh, BJD’s MLA candidates polled 6,30,484 votes compared to 5,17,306 votes polled by the MP nominee. Similarly, the ruling party polled 5,00,367 votes in all Assembly segments under Balasore LS constituency whereas the MP candidate polled 30,000 less. In Sundargarh, the MLA candidates polled 3,70,987 votes compared to 2,76,991 votes polled by the MP nominee.