Even though various opinion polls have painted a comfortable picture for the BJD-BJP alliance in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Orissa, the Assembly elections may spring a lot of surprises.
Orissa has 147 Assembly seats and 21 Lok Sabha seats.
Though opinion polls give the Congress only two to three Lok Sabha seats, it is certainly not going to be a one-sided affair in favour of the BJD-BJP in the Assembly polls.
The mismatch between the expected Lok Sabha and Assembly results is quite inevitable. There are nearly 14 to 15 BJD-BJP big-margin candidates including BJD president Naveen Patnaik, Biswa Bhushan Harichandan, Anand Acharya and others who are likely to win by margins ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 votes in the Assembly polls and these leads will put their Lok Sabha candidates in comfortable positions.
With the entry of the 42 BJD-BJP rebels, who were expelled from their respective parties on Saturday, the number of closely fought races in the Assembly polls has increased and the results can swing either way in these constituencies.
There is no doubt that BJD president Naveen Patnaik's "honest" image and "crusade against corruption" campaign has effectively countered the anti-incumbency factor at the macro level.
{{/usCountry}}There is no doubt that BJD president Naveen Patnaik's "honest" image and "crusade against corruption" campaign has effectively countered the anti-incumbency factor at the macro level.
{{/usCountry}}At this stage, Naveen's popularity is higher than PCC president J.B. Patnaik's is, and the BJD-BJP campaign is also way ahead of the Congress'. Though the central Congress leadership has almost abandoned Orissa, the BJD-BJP rebels have kept the hopes of Congress candidates alive, at least in the Assembly polls.