Odisha: Assembly elections

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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

2014

Cakewalk In State Polls Too

Bhubaneswar:

TEAM TOI

The Times of India May 17 2014

Odisha Assembly Elections 2014

At the time of going to press, BJD led in 20 LS seats and 117 assembly seats, an improvement over 14 LS seats and 103 assembly seats in 2009.

BJP was ahead in just two LS and 10 assembly seats. Congres was ahead in 16 assembly seats and failed to open its account in the Lok Sabha. In 2009, Congres had won six Lok Sabha and 27 assembly seats.

Speculation was rife that Patnaik might face a rebellion, having denied tickets to *Leads till 11.30pm several sitting LS and assembly members, but results proved otherwise.

When his performance and Odisha's backwardness was questioned by Modi, Sonia and Rahul, Patnaik dismissed them as “outsiders on a vote-shopping trip to Odisha“.

2019

CM Naveen wins a fifth time

Ashok Pradhan, May 24, 2019: The Times of India

Bucking the national trend one more time, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo Naveen Patnaik vanquished BJP in the battle for Odisha. While the final result of the assembly election — which was held alongside the Lok Sabha polls — is awaited, the EC update at the time of going to the press said that BJD had won 12 seats and was leading in 101 seats. BJP was leading in 22 seats and Congress in 9. Elections were held for 146 assembly seats out of a total of 147.

BJP improved its tally from the 10 assembly seats it won in 2014, but failed to stop Naveen from ruling the mineral-rich coastal state for a record fifth straight term. His stellar show in the assembly election was complemented by BJD’s ability to hold its own in Lok Sabha polls. Proving the exit polls wrong, BJD was leading in 12 of the 21 seats and BJP, in eight.

Congress, which was BJD’s main opposition party until the emergence of BJP, suffered a serious erosion in the state.

Like previous polls, this time too, BJD sought votes in Naveen’s name. ‘Brand Naveen’ is built on the 73-year-old bachelor’s ‘Mr Clean’ image, his statesmanship and decency in public life. Many feel Naveen played his trump card just before the poll dates were announced by promising to reserve 33% of the state’s 21 Lok Sabha seats for women candidates. Naveen also replaced several sitting MLAs and MPs to beat anti-incumbency.

True to Naveen’s style, all this was achieved without rancour. The sharp words between him and Modi during the campaign dissolved as the state battled a devastating cyclone. The CM seemed to inch closer to BJP in the aftermath of Cyclone Fani; critics say he never moved away from his former ally in the first place.