Odisha: Local bodies’ elections
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Panchayat elections
2017, BJP second largest party
BJP 2nd largest party in Odisha panchayat polls, Feb 27, 2017: The Times of India
The BJP has emerged as the principal gainer by becoming the second largest party in rural Odisha pushing the Congress to the third position, even as the state's ruling BJD won majority seats.
According to results declared by the State Election Commission (SEC), of the 846 Zilla Parishad seats for which polls were held in five phases from February 13, the BJD has won 473 seats and the BJP 297.The Congress was left with just 60 seats. In the last Odisha Panchayat elections held in 2012, the BJD had won 654 seats, followed by the Congress with 128, and the BJP 36 seats out of 854 seats. Out of 846 ZP seats, results of Belapada constituency in Bolangir district, Niali seat in Cuttack district and Shergada constituency in Ganjam district were withheld, the SEC release said, adding elections were not held in ZP constituencies number 7 and 8 of Chitrakonda in Malkangiri due to Maoist threats.
The SEC release said the CPI has won two ZP seats, while the CPI(M), JMM and the Ama Odisha Party have won one seat each. Independent candidates of won 11 seats.Election was countermanded at 20-Gania ZP constituency in Nayagarh district the death of a candidate and polling was not conducted 2-Komna ZP seat in Nuapada district following a high court order.
While the ruling BJD secured majority in 16 districts, the BJP got a clear mandate to form Zilla Parishad Councils in eight districts. The Cong ress could secure majority only in Jharsuguda district. The districts where the BJD got clear majority were Jajpur, Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Boudh, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Khur da, Koraput, Nayagarh, Nuapada and Puri.
The BJP is all set to form ZP Councils in Bargarh, Bolangir, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur and Subarnapur districts. AGENCIES
2022
Sujit Bisoyi, February 28, 2022: The Times of India
Bhubaneswar: Despite Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik not hitting the campaign trail in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on gatherings, the governing BJD is heading for a landslide victory in the panchayat election by smashing all previous records.
Out of the 853 zilla parishad zones in state, elections were held in 851. BJD has secured around 90% of the 315 zilla parishad seats, where results have been declared officially. BJD has, so far, won 281 seats while the two opposition parties — BJP and Congress — have secured only 15 and 14 seats, respectively. Independent candidates have won in two seats while fringe parties have bagged an equal number of seats. The result of one seat in Niali has not been declared. Early trend (at 8pm) of the second day of the counting on Sunday is also indicating a huge win for BJD, which is leading in 271 of the 306 zilla parishad zones, where counting is in progress. BJP and Congress are leading in 15 and 16 seats, respectively. The numbers are likely to change by the time of completion of counting.
The initial results indicate that BJD is likely to form the zilla parishad councils in almost all 30 districts, while both the opposition parties have failed to open an account in as many as 20 districts after the first day ofcounting.
BJP has lost out to BJD’s strategy in the western districts besides Mayurbhanj, traditionally known to be its strongholds, even as the saffron party had swept the re- gion in the 2017 panchayat polls and formed zilla parishad councils in eight districts.
BJP, which had won all five Lok Sabha seats in the western districts, along with the Mayurbhanj parliamentary constituency, in the 2019 general elections seems to be struggling to hold its base there.
The opposition has failed to make a dent in BJD’s prospects despite hitting the streets over accusations against the BJD government on wide-ranging issues.
Though the cradle-tograve schemes of the BJD gov- ernment, including the recently launched smart health card under the BSKY remained a crucial factor behind BJD’s electoral success, some of the direct cash transfer schemes targeting various rural voters believed to have worked for the party. These include special Covid assistance and house repair assistance.
The other factors that worked in its favour include the popularity and clean image of Naveen Patnaik, the well-oiled election machinery and massive organisational base of BJD and the exodus of potential leaders from BJP and Congress to the ruling party in run-up to rural polls.
However, Balasore MP and former Union minister Pratap Sarangi of BJP blamed the “blatant” use of money power by the ruling dispensation for its victory.
The zilla parishad election results must have come as a blow to BJP, which had hoped for a much improved show after it had bagged 297 seats in 2017, a huge jump from the 36 five years earlier.
BJP state president Samir Mohanty said somewhere the votes BJP got in various ZP zones didn’t convert into win.
