Lok Sabha election 2019: A spurt from 2014 polls, saffron party makes impressive gains in east coast

Making impressive gains on the back of a high-voltage campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, the BJP in Odisha led in 7 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats, a spurt from 2014 when it won just one Lok Sabha seat.

BJD remained the dominant party, winning 14 seats, though its tally was six less than the previous general elections. BJD battling anti-incumbency, it dropped all its sitting MPs barring four. In a first, it also gave tickets to 33% of the Lok Sabha tickets to women.

BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra lost against BJD candidate and SC lawyer Pinaki Mishra in Puri, while its candidate Bishweswar Tudu of the BJP won against BJD’s Dr Debashis Marandi in Mayurbhanj.

BJP state president Basanta Kumar Panda won from Kalahandi Lok Sabha seat by a comfortable margin against BJD’s Pushpendra Singhdeo.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik is all set to come back to power for a record fifth term as his BJD raced past the majority mark leading in 94 of the 147 assembly seats with the electorate opting for tactical voting that saw the BJP making major gains in the battle for the Lok Sabha.

As per trends, Naveen Patnaik was leading from both the Hinjili and Bijepur assembly constituencies after three rounds of counting. He is on path to join the ranks of Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling and West Bengal’s Jyoti Basu as five-time CM.