Exit polls make BJD leaders happy

Exit polls conducted by local media organisations predicted a victory for ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the assembly elections, bringing cheer to the leaders of the Naveen Patnaik-led regional outfit.

If the exit poll outcomes turn out real, Patnaik will form the government for a fifth consecutive term. In the process, he will be breaking his own record of 2014, where he won an assembly poll four times in a row.

According to the exit polls, the BJD will win 85 to 95 assembly seats followed by BJP (25- 35) and Congress (12 to 15). The party requires 74 seats in the 147-member state assembly to form the government. The BJD had won 117 assembly seats during the 2014 elections.

"It was a landslide in our favour in 2014. "We were not expecting to repeat that performance. However, we were sure of a comfortable victory and the exit polls have given indications of that”, said a senior BJD leader, adding that an internal assessment conducted by the party gave them 105 seats.

The state unit of the BJP, nevertheless, said that the party would form the next government in the state. “The people have already decided to throw the inefficient BJD government out of power. We will get majority of the seats to form the next government in the state”, BJD state unit president Basanta Panda said.

He, however, did not explain why the BJP central leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national resident Amit Shah were not considering Patnaik administration as inefficient. Recently Naveen Patnaik was praised by both of them for post-cyclone Fani relief and rehabilitation works and law and order situation respectively.

The state and national media organisations have predicted in their exit polls that the BJD will be losing half of its Lok Sabha seats and considerable gain for the BJP. In 2014 polls, the BJD had captured 20 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha while BJP had secured only one seat. Odisha has been having simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha polls since 2004.