Bhubaneswar: As per the initial trends, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik is set to become the Chief Minister of Odisha for a record fifth consecutive term, which would make him one of India’s longest-serving Chief Ministers.
The initial leads suggest a landslide victory of the party in the State.
Of the 146 seats, BJD is leading in 98 seats, while BJP is leading in 28 and Congress in 13 seats. The majority mark in the Assembly stands at 74.
Hence, the trends have predicted Patnaik will return for another term with a comfortable majority. The counting is currently underway.
Patnaik has been the CM of Odisha since 2000.
Meanwhile, BJD is leading in 12 Lok Sabha constituencies, BJP in eight and Congress in one, according to latest trends.
In 2009, BJD had won 14 Lok Sabha seats out of 21 and 103 seats in 147 strong Assembly while the Congress had managed to win 27 Assembly seats and six Parliamentary seats. BJP had had managed to win only six Assembly seats and zero Lok Sabha seats.
In 2014, the BJD had won 117 Assembly seats and 20 Lok Sabha seats. While the BJP had won 10 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat, Congress had managed to won 16 Assembly seats but drawn a blank in Parliamentary constituencies.
