The tug-of-war for Odisha between BJP and BJD will end today with the Bharatiya Janata Party likely to form the next government. Being a strong bastion CM Patnaik held various rallies and election campaigns but as the counting is underway, the saffron party is leading. As of now, the BJP has a lead of 74 seats with BJD having 57 leads, Congress 14, CPI-M one seat lead and INDI Alliance two seats lead.
The trends seem to be proving Odisha exit polls correct. According the Exit Poll, most of the Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha were predicted to go to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was expected to get 6-8 seats. The poll had said the BJP-led NDA could secure 13-15 seats of the total 21 in the state.
Meanwhile, several exit polls had predicted a hung house for Odisha Assembly Elections 2024. According to the India Today-Axis My India exit poll, both the BJD and the BJP were expected to win equal number of seats (62-80) in the 147-seat Odisha Assembly. However, the Jan ki Baat exit poll had predicted 68-93 seats for the BJD and 44-72 seats for the BJP in the state.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was the frontrunner in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections winning 12 seats. While the BJP secured 8 seats, the Congress put up a dismal show settling for just one seat.
In the 2019 Odisha Assembly elections, the BJD won 112 seats while the BJP won 23 seats. The Congress had won nine seats in 2019 Assembly polls.
Odisha voted for the Lok Sabha elections as well as the Assembly elections in four phases between May 13 and June 1.
