BHUBANESWAR: Putting all speculations to rest, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Friday surged ahead for an overwhelming victory in the Assembly polls with the party winning from 103 seats and leading in 14 more seats so far, which takes the possible tally of the party to 117. The party is all set to better its performance compared to the last election in 2009 when it won 103 seats.
In the Lok Sabha polls also, the party almost made a clean sweep by either winning or leading in 20 out of the 21 seats in the Odisha while the BJP was leading in one seat. The BJD has so far won 11 Lok Sabha seats and leading in nine more seats.
The Congress, which had won six Lok Sabha seats in the 2009 polls, is facing a rout in this election with state campaign committee chief and union minister of state Srikant Jena relegated to the third position in Balasore Lok Sabha constituency. Five other sitting Congress MPs from the state are also heading towards defeat.
The Congress, the main opposition political party in the state, is heading towards one of its worst election results. The party has won 12 seats and leading in four more while the BJP has improved its tally by winning from 10 seats compared to six seats in 2009. The BJD sweep also spread to the Western and Southern Odisha districts known to be Congress stronghold barring a few setbacks.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik won from the Hinjili Assembly constituency for the fourth consecutive time by defeating his Congress rival Sibaram Patra by a margin of 76,586 votes. President of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Jaydev Jena was, however, defeated from the Anandpur Assembly constituency by his BJD rival Mayadhar Jena of the BJD, a first timer, by 22,224 votes.
In a keenly contested electoral battle, state BJP president KV Singhdeo defeated his nearest BJD rival Prakriti Devi Singhdeo in Patnagarh Assembly constituency by 13653 votes.
Though the BJD march towards victory was unprecedented, the party received several setbacks. Senior leader and finance minister Prasanna Acharya lost to his Congress rival Subal Sahu, sitting MLA from Bijepur Assembly constituency by 458 votes in a keen contest.
Former MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati defeated Minister of state for school and mass education Rabi Narayan Nanda from the Jeypore constituency with a margin of 8367 votes. Similarly, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Welfare Pratap Keshari Deb is trailing behind his Congress rival Devendra Verma by over a margin of 2601 votes in Aul.
Hema Gamang, wife of former chief minister Giridhar Gamang, who joined BJD before the polls and was given ticket from Laxmipur constituency was defeated by Congress rival Kailash Chandra Kulesika.
Pritiranjan Ghadei, son of former finance minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei is leader against senior Congress leader Sarat Rout from the Sukinda constituency by a margin of over 4700 votes.
But amidst the all-round Congress defeat, several party heavyweights are all set to make it to the Assembly. Senior Congress leader and party’s media cell chairman Narasingh Mishra defeated his nearest rival, former minister AU Singhdeo by 12,254 in the Balangir Assembly constituency. In a setback for the BJD, Chiranjib Biswal of Congress defeated former minister and BJD candidate Bishnu Charan Das in Jagatsinghpur seat by a margin of 2,888 votes.
Bramhagiri Assembly constituency in Puri district witnessed a tough fight where BJD candidate Sanjay Dasburma defeated senior Congress leader Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra by a margin of over 1341 votes.
The smaller political parties including, Odisha Jan Morcha (OJM), Ama Odisha Party (AOP), Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Samata Kranti Dal (SKD) have failed to make much of an impact in the polls.
While AOP president Soumya Ranjan Patnaik was defeated by his BJD rival Anubhav Patnaik by over 601 votes from Khandapara seat, George Tirkey, president of the SKD won from the Biramitrapur seat by defeating his JMM rival Sebeyan Aind by a margin of 11947 votes. The OJM and TMC have drawn a blank.