New Delhi:
The Odisha Lok Sabha elections exit poll results have been declared. The News Nation Exit Poll results have predicted a victory for the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s seats are likely to rise from 1 to 8-10 seats. The exit poll predicts that the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) may manage to win 11-13 Lok Sabha seats. Congress, on the other hand, may drop to zero seat in Odisha.
The state of Odisha is probably one of those states in which the Bharatiya Janata Party is pegging to capture maximum seats. In 2014, Odisha bucked the Modi wave and the ruling party had the consolation of winning a lone Lok Sabha seat in Sundargarh. But this time, the scenario is likely to change. After the BJP had an unprecedented success in the North-eastern states namely, Tripura, Assam and Manipur, the party is aiming to spread its wings in West Bengal and Odisha as well under the ‘Look east policy’. While a popular and youthful Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, has been projected as an alternative face to Naveen Patnaik for quite some time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah have made numerous visits to connect with the masses in Odisha.
Odisha, which has 21 Lok Sabha constituencies, saw lower voter turnout this year due to Cyclone Fani.
2014 Lok Sabha elections in Odisha:
The main contenders in these polls were Biju Janata Dal, Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party. The assembly elections were held simultaneously with the general elections in the state. The polls for 21 Lok Sabha seats were held in two phases on 10 and 17 April 2014, where BJD won with 44.10% vote share, Congress got 26% and BJP got 21.50% vote share.
2009 General elections in Odisha:
In 2009 general elections in Odisha, the major contenders in the state were the Third Front, Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The third front parties contesting in the state were the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the Left parties and the Nationalist Congress Party. The BJD emerged as a party with highest number of seats: 14, whereas Congress and CPI bagged 6 and 1 seats respectively.
2004 General elections in Odisha:
Elections to the 13th Legislative Assembly of Orissa were held in April 2004. 802 candidates from various political parties were in fray, contesting in a total of 147 Assembly constituencies. 1,69,33,456 valid votes were cast in which, owing to the people-centric welfarist schemes of Naveen Patnaik.
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