Odisha Election Results 2024 Highlights: ‘Next Odisha CM’s name to be decided in a day or two,’ says BJP state president

In a post on X, former Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik said, "I am deeply grateful to the four and a half crore people of Odisha for giving me the opportunity to serve continuously. I met the Honorable Governor and submitted my resignation from the post of Chief Minister. I will remain firmly committed to serving the people of Odisha."

Naveen Patnaik lost by a margin of 16,344 votes to Laxman Bag of BJP in Kantabanji – his first electoral loss ever. In Hinjili, the other seat he contested from, the BJD chief won by 4,636 votes, his lowest ever victory margin.

The Congress on Wednesday took a swipe at the BJD and YSRCP after they suffered crushing defeats in the assembly and Lok Sabha polls, saying that from the BJP's 'B-teams' they have become the 'has-been' teams.

The BJP on Tuesday stormed to power in Odisha by dethroning the BJD which has been in power for the last 24 years. The BJD drew a blank in the Lok Sabha polls.

The Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP suffered a crushing defeat in the assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh at the hands of the Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP in the assembly polls. The YSRCP secured just four seats in the Lok Sabha polls.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, 'Over the past ten years, the BJD was the B-team of the BJP in Parliament. It supported Mr. Modi on every issue.' 'Over the past ten years, YSRCP was another B-team of the BJP, which supported Mr. Modi on every issue. From B-teams, they have become the has-been teams,' Ramesh said.

This is what happens to regional parties who place their trust in 'the Hum Do', who have suffered a humiliating moral and political defeat yesterday, Ramesh said in a post on X. PTI 

Marking the end of his 24-year-rule in Odisha, BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday resigned from the post of the chief minister after the defeat of his party in the assembly elections in the state.

BJP stormed to power in Odisha by securing 78 of the 147 assembly seats, while the BJD managed to win only 51 seats. Congress bagged 14 constituencies and CPI (M) secured one, while three Independent candidates also emerged victorious. The results were announced on Tuesday.

Patnaik had for the first time taken oath as the chief minister of Odisha on March 5, 2000.

A day after the 2024 general election results were declared, Odisha CM and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik arrived at the Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. 

BJD lost the Odisha Assembly elections, winning just 51 of the total 147 seats in the state.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised questions about the health of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in the last leg of the simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state, it wasn’t the first time that the issue had made it to the electoral battleground.

Just ahead of the 2019 polls, Patnaik had accused his longtime friend-turned-foe Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda of spreading “rumours” about his health in Delhi circles “for his own personal political ambitions”.

While Panda always refuted the same, lingering suspicion regarding this was one of the factors that had led the BJD to suspend the leader, the party’s face in Delhi, in January 2018. In May that year, Panda had joined the BJP, and is its candidate from the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat this time.

To further dispel apprehensions about Patnaik’s health, the BJD had released a short video ahead of the 2019 polls that depicted the Odisha CM’s exercise routine at his residence.

In 2019, the Patnaik-led party won 112 seats in the Assembly (of 146 that voted, as election in one seat was countermanded), five less than the previous polls, while the BJP increased its tally to 23, from 10 in 2014.

Ahead of the 2022 panchayat polls, again talk began about how fit Patnaik was. The CM blamed “vested interests”, and claimed that the very fact that such rumour-mongering” was being done showed that the BJD was going to do very well.

Speaking to reporters in February 2022 after offering prayers at the famed Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar, Patnaik said: “Whenever there is an election, these rumours are started that my health is not well. I can assure all of you that I am in perfect health, very happy and here to serve the people of Odisha.”

The BJD had swept the 2022 panchayat elections in Odisha, winning 766 of the total 852 zilla parishad seats, a big jump from the 476 it had won in 2017. The BJP had managed to secure only 42 seats, a steep fall from 297 in 2017.

A senior BJP leader said their line of attack was justified. “There is a strong perception that the BJD may disintegrate in a post-Naveen Patnaik scenario and break up into multiple groups, the same as the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu… We wanted to convince the people that if they voted for the BJD, it would only strengthen the anti-Odia lobby, with Pandian enjoying power from behind the scenes,” the leader said.

A Bhubaneshwar-based political analyst, Sandeep Sahu, agreed that people too are wondering “whether Patnaik can deliver or complete five years in office”. However, he added, it was “distasteful and unbecoming” of Modi to raise this at an election rally, even promising a probe into “the sudden decline in Pattnaik’s health” in recent times. Read More 

While it serves the BJP to have questions lingering over the BJD chief’s health, the speculation also keeps surfacing given the CM’s highly curtailed public engagements in the past four years. Post-Covid epidemic, the 77-year-old CM, who is now seeking a sixth straight term in office, has largely confined himself to Naveen Niwas, his residence.

Since March 2020, he has been attending office work from home, with meetings, including with officials and of the Cabinet, held over videoconferencing. At all these meetings, the only person physically present with Patnaik is his close aide and former private secretary V K Pandian, now a BJD leader.

In its campaign, the BJP continuously targeted Pandian, saying the Tamil Nadu-origin bureaucrat was running the affairs in Odisha and “controlling” Patnaik.

Independent candidates, who entered the fray as BJP rebels, won the polls in Dharmasala, Baramba and Mahanga Assembly seats. The three are likely to join BJP soon. Similarly, CPI (M)’s Laxman Munda managed to retain his Bonai seat, a mineral-rich region.

Despite facing issues like fund constraints and lack of focus on Odisha by its central leaders, the Congress retained the Koraput Lok Sabha seat. In the Assembly election, the party slightly improved its performance, winning 14 seats as compared to just nine in 2019.

The BJD’s defeat also prevented Patnaik from becoming the longest serving Chief Minister. Patnaik, who is expected to resign Wednesday, fell short by 74 days against former Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling’s record of 24 years and 165 days.

Naveen Patnaik, who will step down as Odisha chief minister, after 24 years, took to X to congratulate winning candidates and express gratitude to party workers. 

In the high-profile Aska Lok Sabha seat, where Naveen Patnaik started his political journey by contesting as a Janata Dal nominee in 1997 following the death of his father, former chief minister Biju Patnaik, the BJD faced its maiden defeat. The BJP’s Anita Subhadarshini won the seat by around 1 lakh votes. In Berhampur, another Lok Sabha seat in Ganjam, Patnaik’s former close aide Pradeep Panigrahy, who was sacked from the party in November 2020, won for the BJP by a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes.

Knowing well that targeting CM Naveen Patnaik directly may backfire for the BJP — as happened in 2019 when the party won only 23 Assembly seats — the saffron party’s entire campaign revolved around Pandian and his Tamil origin. From the feedback it gathered from different sources, the party sensed an anger against Pandian among the people.

In a recent statement, former BJD MP Tathagata Satpathy expressed his concerns about the direction of the party. He highlighted the disconnect between the party's actions and the aspirations of the people of Odisha. According to Satpathy, the disturbance at the Puri Temple and the controversial Parikrama Project led to a withdrawal of blessings from the BJD. He emphasized that the party belongs to the Odia masses and should not be manipulated for individual interests. Satpathy believes that the party will need to reinvent itself to regain the trust of the people. 

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan left from Bhubaneswar for Delhi. Pradhan won the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over 1 lakh votes. BJP swept the Odisha Assembly elections, winning 78 of the total 147 seats.

The strong wave in favour of the BJP, which was once dubbed as a “signboard” party in the 1990s and was later reduced to single digit after breaking ties with the BJD in 2009, breached the coastal and interior pockets known to be BJD strongholds.
The BJD was wiped out in Ganjam, the Chief Minister’s home district and party stronghold, as it lost 11 of the 13 seats in the district. In 2019, the BJD had bagged 12 seats from Ganjam.

Boasting about Odia pride – the BJP’s campaign theme that targeted the Chief Minister’s aide V K Pandian, a former bureaucrat with Tamil Nadu roots – Pradhan played a song of celebrated poet Godabarish Mohapatra on his mobile that appealed to the people to wake up and bask in the past glory of the state.

Powered by an aggressive campaign over an emotional narrative of Odia Asmita (pride), the BJP Tuesday stopped its former ally BJD from taking reins of Odisha for a record sixth straight term.

Yesterday, was an eventful day with the results of the Odisha assembly and Lok Sabha Polls being declared. Here are some highlights:  

1) Even as the BJP-led NDA suffered a setback at the national level, with its tally in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections falling well short of exit-poll projections, the silver lining for the alliance came from strong performances in the two state polls of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. 

2) In Odisha, the BJP was all set to form a majority government of its own for the first time, winning 78 out of 147 seats. The outcome brings to an end the five-term reign of Naveen Patnaik’s BJD, which managed to retain only 51 seats this time.

3) Patnaik himself lost by a margin of 16,344 votes to Laxman Bag of BJP in Kantabanji – his first electoral loss ever. In Hinjili, the other seat he contested from, the BJD chief won by 4,636 votes, his lowest-ever victory margin.

4) Apart from the Assembly, Odisha witnessed a BJP surge in the Lok Sabha polls. The party is set to win 19 of the 21 parliamentary seats, leaving one each for the BJD and the Congress.

The BJP got majority in the Odisha Assembly by winning 74 seats in the 147-member House on Tuesday, according to the Election Commission of India.

The BJP won 74 seats and was leading in four more constituencies, it said.

The BJD which is in power in Odisha since 2000 won 50 Assembly seats and was leading in one constituency.

The Congress has won 14 Assembly seats.

The BJD in the 2019 Assembly elections had won 113 seats while BJP got 23 seats and Congress 9 seats

Biju Janata Dal(BJD) leader and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik expressed gratitude to all BJD workers as party suffered massive defeat in Odisha Assembly elections today. Bharatiya Janata Party is set to form the next government after securing 78 seats. Patnaik took to the social media site X, to thank all party workers and leaders for their efforts and sacrifices and also gave his best wishes to all the winning candidates 'irrespective of party affiliation'. 

Biju Janata Dal's (BJD) Sunil Kumar Mohanty registered a win from Puri Assembly seat with a margin of 5178 votes. Jayanta Kumar Sanghi representing BJP trailed behind with 69531 votes. 

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik secured a win in Hinjli Assembly seat with a margin of 4636 seats. As of now BJP has secured 70 seats, ruling BJD has secured 46 seats and Congress has secured 14.

According to the election commission, the BJP has won in 65 seats now, and leading in 13. Biju Janata Dal trails after emerging victorious in 41 seats while Congress has emerged victorious in 12 seats in the Odisha General Assembly elections. 

Union Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan, expressed gratitude towards the people of Odisha for 'reposing their faith in #ModikiGuarantee'. Thanking BJP's senior leadership and karyakartas, Pradhan promised that BJP in Odisha 'will serve the people diligently, fulfil all the promises and take Odisha and ‘Odia Asmita’ to new heights of greatness.'

According to the election commission, the BJP has won in 48 seats now, and leading in 30. Biju Janata Dal trails after emerging victorious in 33 seats while Congress has emerged victorious in six seats. BJP leaders like PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Dharmendra Pradhan have taken to the social media site X to express gratitude towards people of Odisha. 

PM Modi reacted on BJP's lead in Odisha and posted on the social media site X thanking Odisha for a  'resounding victory for good governance'. 'BJP will leave no stone unturned in fulfilling the dreams of people and taking Odisha to new heights of progress,' wrote Modi while expressing pride and thanking 'all hardworking Party Karyakartas' for their efforts.  

Odisha CM and Biju Janata Dal(BJD) leader Naveen Patnaik is currently leading in Hinjili seat with a margin of 4782 votes after the sixteenth round. Patnaik however has not been able to secure a lead in Kantabanji where BJP's Laxman Bag is leading with a margin of 12164 votes. The tug-of-war for Odisha between BJP and BJD ends today with the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the next government after securing a win in 32 seats. 

According to the election commission, the BJP has won in 32 seats now, and leading in 47. Biju Janata Dal trails after emerging victorious in 22 seats while Congress has emerged victorious in four seats. 

According to the election commission, the BJP has won in 29 seats now, and leading in 50. Biju Janata Dal trails after emerging victorious in 21 seats. 

According to the election commission, the BJP has won in 19 seats now, and leading in 61.

The constituencies in which the saffron party has been declared a winner are as follows:

According to the latest trends, the BJP has won 16 seats and is leading in 64, looking to win 80 out of 147 seats that went for Assemply polls.  

Another assembly constituency, Brajarajnagar gets into BJP's vote pocket with a margin of 26789. 

BJP wins seven seats in Odisha state assembly- Raghunathpali, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Chilika, Attabira, Umerkote and Kuchinda. 

On June 1, some people of Odisha staged a protest alleging tampering with EVMs. They claimed that some machines were taken to block offices rather than strong rooms. Later the district administration shared its view saying that the ones taken were reserved EVMs for polling purposes. 

Odisha’s ADG Sanjay Kumar in a media interaction shared the guidelines of voting centers. According to them no official employed with ECI will be allowed to take cell phones inside the voting centers. The Special Armed Police of the state, along with district police and CAPF will make a three-tier security system outside the center. 

CCTV cameras are installed for 24*7 surveillance at the counting centers.  

Following the guidelines of the ECI an elaborate security system is put in place to make the results free and fair. As reported by Sambad English, EVM’s are stored safely in the strong rooms at around 69 locations across the state. A three-tier security system has been put in place outside these strong rooms. 

BJP has four seats in Odisha state assembly- Raghunathpali, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, and Chilika

With counting of votes underway in Madhya Pradesh, former chief minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan has won the Vidisha seat. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing the media at 7 pm today as the BJP failed to cross the majority mark on its own. The NDA, however, is all set to return to power, bagging at least 290 seats.

After a decade-long hiatus, the Congress party has made a breakthrough in the Gujarat Lok Sabha Elections as Geniben Thakor, the party’s candidate from Banaskantha, secured victory. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be addressing a press conference at 5.30 pm today. The Congress leader has won the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat

BJD has now won one seat- Rourkela with a margin of 3552. The candidate, Sarada Prasad Nayak received 64660 votes. 

BJP wins four seats in Odisha state assembly- Raghunathpali, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, and Chilika

BJP's candidate Durga Charan Tanti won the seat with a margin of 5774. 

BJP's candidate from Jharsuguda  Tankadar Tripathy won the Constituency with a margin of 1333. He got 91105 as a total vote. 

BJP's candidate from Bargarh Ashwini Kumar Sarangi won the Constituency with a margin of 4772. He got 77766  as a total vote. 

BJP's candidate from Chilika, Prithviraj Harichandan won the constituency with a margin of 4566. He got 83264 as a total vote. 

Laddoo is being prepared amid celebrations at BJP headquarters after the latest trends of Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections of the state, reports ANI. 

As per official trends by ECI, BJP crosses the majority mark; leading on 81 seats in the Odisha Assembly elections. BJP is also leading on 19 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The trend shows that BJP is leading in 80 seats, ruling BJD is leading in 49 seats and congress is leading in 15, INDI Alliance 3.

Congress's Manghu Khilla won from Odisha's Chitrakonda with a margin of 9159. Total votes he got in the elections 55550

BJD's Nalini Kantha Pradhan is leading with BJP's Sanjeeb Kumar Saho with a margin of 15881. 

BJP's Abhaya Kumar Barik is leading with a margin of 994 against BJD's Ranendra Pratap Swain. 

BJP's Saroj Kumar Padhi is leading with a margin of 3143 against BJD's Manjula Swain. 

In Angul Constituency, BJP's Pratap Chandra Pradhan is leading with a margin of 13020 against BJD's Sanjukta Singh. 

In Anandapur Constituency, BJD's Abhimanyu Seth is leading with Congress Jayadev Jena with a margin of 10920. 

The saffron party is leading in 78 seats including Bargarh, Kalahandi, Balangir, Puri, Sambalpur and Keonjhar, while the ruling BJD is leading in 51 seats and congress is leading in 15 seats.

Once best friends in the political landscape and now contesting against each other in the state, BJP and BJD at present are leading on 78 and 58 seats respectively. 

After being in alliance for nine years, in 2009, the BJD and its junior ally, the BJP, parted ways over a range of issues, including an unsuccessful seat sharing formula in the elections that year. But why? Doesn't it seem like two best friends breaking apart? 

Observing its victory in the panchayat polls, BJP steadily improved its vote share — from 15.1 per cent and six assembly seats in 2009 to 18.2 per cent and 10 seats in 2014 and 32.8 per cent and 23 seats in 2019. The BJP’s rise, though, has been at the expense of the Congress while the BJD continued to increase its vote share — from 38.9 per cent in 2009 to 45.2 per cent in the 2019 Assembly polls.

The poll trends reveal that BJD will be the opposition in the Odisha state legislative assembly. However, once ECI formally declares the results it will then be decided by the party who will be the leader of the opposition in the house.