Bhubaneswar: The ruling Biju Janata Dal ( BJD) under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik, which ruled Odisha consecutively for fifth term, suffered a major jolt in the election, as the Opposition BJP riding on the Modi wave, is all set to form the double engine government in the state.
The BJP also swept the Lok Sabha election, as its candidates are leading with a very comfortable and huge margin in 19 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The ruling BJD which had won 12 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 election, is leading in only Jajpur(SC) Lok Sabha seat where the sitting MP Sarmistha Sethi is leading over her rival BJP candidate Rabindra Behera by margin of only 4,525 votes.
On the other hand, Congress-sitting MP Saptagiri Ulaka is all set to retain the Koraput Lok Sabha seat, as he is leading with a huge margin of 1,28,517 votes over his rival BJD candidate Kausalya Hikaka.
Most of the 19 BJP Lok Sabha candidates were leading by a huge margin over their rival BJD candidates. Three BJD sitting MPs Achyuta Samanta (Kandhamal), Rajashree Mallick (Jagatsinghpur) and Manjulata Mandal (Bhadrak) were also conceding defeat at the hands of BJP candidates.
Odisha Finance Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha, Science Technology Minister Ashok Panda, Commerce and Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu, Forest and Environment Minister Pradip Amat, Higher Education and Food Supply and Consumer Affairs Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, ST and SC Development Minister Jagannath Saraka, Women and Child Development Minister Basanti Hembram and Handloom and Textile minister Rita Sahu had conceded defeat in the election.
On the other hand, BJP heavyweight Dilip Ray was defeated at the hands of the Labour Minister Sarada Prasad Nayak in the Rourkela Assembly seat. Odisha Congress President Sarat Pattnayak was defeated at the hands of Planning and Convergence Minister Rajendra Dholakia in Nuapada Assembly seat.
The ruling BJD had a major debacle in the coastal Odisha which was its bastion for the last two decades. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and BJP national Vice President Baijayant Panda have thanked the people of Odisha for reposing their confidence on Modi’s call for a change of the government in the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his election meeting has appealed to the people of the state to give one chance to the BJP assuring that Odisha will become a number one state in the country.
Modi in his election rallies had said that June 4 will be the expiry date of the BJD government in the state and Naveen Patnaik will become former Chief Minister. The Prime Minister had also stated that a new BJP Chief Minister will take oath June 10 at Bhubaneswar and invited the people to come to Bhubaneswar to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
UNI