Bhubaneswar (Odisha): The Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janta Dal (BJD) seems to be on course to form the next government in Odisha for a fifth term in a row, with its candidates winning 94 seats and leading in 18 out of the 146 assembly constituencies.
Chief Minister Patnaik retained his home turf Hinjili for a fifth consecutive term, trouncing BJP's Pitambar Acharya from the assembly seat by 60,160 votes, and singularly steering the BJD to an almost certain landslide victory. Patnaik is also leading from the Bijepur assembly seat in West Odisha against BJP's Sanat Kumar with a margin of 56,577 votes.
Of the 121 assembly segments, the result of which has been declared so far, BJD has won 94, BJP bagged 19 and is leading in 4. An independent and the CPI(M) have won one seat each and are leading in none, while the Congress won 8 seats and is leading in one seat.
Polling was held in 146 assembly seats, as the election in Patkura was postponed twice, following the death of a candidate and the devastating cyclone Fani which hit the coastal state on May 5.
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As the government's chief whip and former minister Amar Prasad Satpathy won from the Barchana assembly seat, defeating BJP's Amar Kumar Nayak by a slender margin of 1,485 votes, BJD candidate Mukesh Kumar
Pal won from Pallahara, beating BJP nominee Ashok Mohanty by a margin of 6,214 votes.
Prominent among the BJD winners are state ministers Nrusingha Sahu, who retained his Parjanga seat by defeating BJP's BB Pradhan by a wafer-thin margin of 740 votes, and Prafulla Mallick, who won from his home turf Kamakhyanagar beating BJP's Shatrughan Jena by 16,509 votes.
Another Odisha minister Usha Devi retained her Chikiti assembly seat by defeating BJP's Manoranjan Dyansamantara by 20,635 votes, while BJD's B K Arukha, also a minister, won Bhanjanagar seat beating BJP nominee P K Nayak by 9,103 votes.
Other BJD assembly poll winners are Minakshi Mahanta (Champua), Manjulata Swain (Aska), Pranab Balabantaray (Dharmasala), Kishore Chandra Naik (Kuchinda), Pramila Mallick (Binjharpur) and Pritiranjan Ghadai (Sukinda).
The BJP opened its account in the Odisha assembly polls, with Sankar Oram defeating BJD's Makhlu Ekka by 16,351 votes in the Biramitrapur seat.
While the final results are yet to be announced, the trends show that the saffron party is poised to emerge as the main opposition party.
The BJP has 10 seats in the outgoing House.
The Congress, which has played the role of the main opposition against the BJD since the 2000 elections, has lost its turf to the BJP. It has 16 MLAs in the outgoing assembly.
Ramesh Chandra Jena of the Congress won from Sanakhemundi, defeating BJD's Nandini Devi by 23,727 votes.
State Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik is trailing BJD candidates in both Ghasipura and Bhandaripokhari assembly segments.
BJP legislature party leader K V Singhdeo is also trailing BJD's Saroj Kumar Meher in the Patnagarh assembly seat. Singhdeo is the sitting MLA from Patnagarh.
