After a gruelling battle, both BJD, BJP claim victory

While the ruling BJD claims it will win 18 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats and 115 Assembly seats in Odisha to retain power for the fifth consecutive term, the BJP has boasted of touching the magic figure of 74 to form the government. The Cong, on the other hand, has conceded defeat.

With the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections nearly over in Odisha, political parties have started calculating the number of seats they will win.

While the ruling BJD claims it will win 18 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats and 115 Assembly seats to retain power for the fifth consecutive term, the BJP has boasted of touching the magic figure of 74 to form the government. Besides, the saffron party claims to get 12 to 16 Lok Sabha seats.

The Congress, on the other hand, has in way conceded defeat saying it was not confident of getting the required number in the 147-member state Assembly to form the government, but it would do better than its figures in 2014 polls.

The battle in Odisha started with the BJP launching its campaign with fury and maintaining the tempo all through the campaign. The Congress, though started with equal force with party in-charge Jitendra Singh, could not sustain its momentum when one after another top leaders quit the party only to join the ruling BJD.

Five of the 16 Congress MLAs, including its working president Nabakishore Das, switched sides, leaving the party in doldrums.

The BJD led by its president Naveen Patnaik left no stone unturned to ensure that the party retains the power for the fifth consecutive term and its leader becomes the longest serving chief minister of the country, surpassing former West Bengal chief minister's 23 years in office.

Mr Patnaik has been in power as chief minister of Odisha for 19 years now.

BJD spokesperson Samir Dash has claimed the party would get 115 Assembly seats and 18 Lok Sabha seats. In 2014, the party had got 117 of 147 Assembly seats and won from 20 Lok Sabha constituencies. He contends that pro-people schemes like Mamata Yojana for pregnant mothers, old-age and widow pensions, welfare measures to scheduled caste and tribals and finally the much-hyped Kalia Yojana (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) will see it through the polls.

“We have always worked for the people. The Naveen Patnaik government is taking care of people belonging to all age groups. No one feels detached from people-friendly governance system that we have always tried to provide. The CM’s popularity and commitment towards good and transparent governance has once again obtained the stamp of approval by the voters and the elections results will prove that,” said the BJD spokesperson.

BJP spokesperson Sameer Mohanty, on the other hand, has his own contention to assert about party’s electoral success and touching the magic number.

“This time, there was a mood all across the state for paribartan (change) and continuance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre. People in Odisha have become tired of the Naveen Patnaik government which has sunk the state in debt trap. Besides, massive corruption in mining sector, chit fund scam, rising atrocities against women and children, lack of employment opportunities for youths, large-scale migration of people from western Odisha to other states in search of work and finally poor healthcare across the state have brazenly exposed Naveen Patnaik’s government’s all-round failure. People have given a mandate for a double-engine government in Odisha and at the Centre,” he said.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik, when asked by journalists about his party’s performance, said, “We will better our results this time. I have not lost hope of winning a majority to form the government in the state and bagging more than half of the Lok Sabha seats.”

In 2014, the Congress which ruled for 30 years, drew nil in the LS polls and was contented with a paltry 16 Assembly seats.

Elections in Odisha were held in four phases beginning on April 13 and ended on April 29. Elections for Patkura Assembly seat under Kendrapara parliamentary constituency could not be held after the death of BJD candidate Bed Prakash Agrawal. The Election Commission has fixed May 19 as the new date for polls in Patkura.

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