BJP Set To Decimate BJD In Odisha, May Form State Government Too

While the BJP is likely to end up nowhere close to its target of 370 Lok Sabha seats and well short even of its 2019 figure of 303, Odisha may emerge as the shining light for the party. Leads suggest that not only will the BJP emerge as the single largest party in the state in the Lok Sabha elections, decimating the BJD, but also win the Assembly polls, giving the state a different chief minister for the first time in 24 years.

As of 1.11 pm, the numbers are staggeringly in the BJP's favour in the Lok Sabha elections, much better even than NDTV's Poll of Polls, the aggregate of exit polls, had predicted. The BJP is leading in 19 of the state's 21 seats, reducing Naveen Patnaik's BJD to just one. For the regional behemoth, this will be an astounding fall - it had won 20 constituencies in 2014 and 12 in 2019.

What will undoubtedly hurt the BJD and Mr Patnaik more, however, is the BJP's lead in the Assembly elections. As things stand now, the BJP is leading in 72 seats of the state's 147, two short of the majority mark, and 49 higher than the figure it had managed to get to in 2019. The BJD is at 60, down from 112.

It is hard to overstate the impact of the loss on the BJD and Mr Patnaik, who has been the chief minister of the state since 2000 and was widely seen as remaining very popular, especially at the state level. 

Making the BJP's achievement bigger is the fact that it went into the elections without a chief ministerial candidate, banking largely on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is a reversal of trends at the national level since 2014, where the absence of a face that can take on PM Modi has had a big impact on the opposition's prospects. 

Alliance Talks Failed

It is also a vindication of the party's decision to go it alone in the state. Reports had suggested that Mr Patnaik's party, which had supported the BJP in Parliament on several occasions despite not being in an alliance, was in talks for joining the NDA. Discussions had, however, eventually fallen through.

Ahead of the elections, PM Modi had said that a BJP chief minister would take oath in the state on June 10 and the BJD had scoffed at the statement.

"Odisha's fate is about to change. The government is changing. I have said that the expiry date of the current government of Odisha is June 4. And on June 10, BJP's Chief Minister will take oath in Odisha," the Prime Minister had said.

Expressing confidence that he would get a sixth term, Mr Patnaik had said, "I see very handsome results in the state elections. We will form a solid government again in the state. And in the Parliament, we will have a very good majority."