The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) juggernaut has finally rolled and made massive inroads in Odisha, proving all political pundits wrong even though exit polls were unable to assess the undercurrent in the state..
The saffron party scripted history by winning as many as 78 seats out of 147 assembly seats in the crucial 2024 elections, the results of which were announced on Tuesday.
The BJD won 51 seats while 14 seats went to the kitty of Congress. Independents won three seats while CPIM won one seat
It is for the first time that the BJP has formed government in Odisha and snatched power from the Naveen Patnaik-led ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD). Patnaik failed to get secure a place in the record books as the longest serving CM. Patnaik who contested from Kantabanji amd Hinjili Assembly seats, lost Kantabanji.
BJP Sweeps Lok Sabha Seats In Odisha
Apart from bagging 78 Assembly seats, the BJP made a clean sweep in the Lok Sabha battle in Odisha as well by winning 20 seats out of the total 21 seats while Congress won the Koraput seat.
BJP heavyweights including Baijayant Panda, Aparajita Sarangi, Pratap Sarangi, Dharmendra Pradhan, Sambit Patra, Pradeep Panigrahi, Malavika Devi, Pradip Purohit and others wining their respective Lok Sabha seats.
Heavyweight winners and losers in Odisha Lok Sabha battle
All eyes were on the 2024 election results and it was eventually the BJP that trounced the ruling BJD which was considered unbeatable riding on the ‘clean image’ of its party supremo Naveen Patnaik.
BJP with an impressive narrative, strategy of Odia Asmita, misgovernance and outsourced governance attacks, managed to snatch the power from the mighty BJD in the 2024 elections, both in assembly and Lok Sabha.
It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who led from the front with other senior leaders doing their part by mobilising the resentment that was brewing among people with a clarion for change in Odisha for fast paced development.
Here is a list of top heavyweights who won and lost the 2024 Lok Sabha battle:
Kendrapara: BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda won the prestigious Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 66,536 votes by defeating BJD’s Anshuman Mohanty who polled 5,49,169 votes.
Bhubaneswar: Sitting BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi retained the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat for the second time. She defeated BJD’s Manmath Routray by a margin of 35,152 votes. Routray is the son of Congress MLA Suresh Routray. Congress candidate Yasir Nawaz polled 66362 votes.
Cuttack: Senior BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab won the Cuttack Lok Sabha battle. He defeated BJD’s Santrupta Mishra by a margin of 57,007 votes. Mishra polled 474524 votes while Congress candidate Suresh Mohapatra secured over 83,851 votes.
Balasore: BJP’s Pratap Sarangi defeated BJD’s Lekhashree Samantsinghar by a margin of 1,47,156 votes in the Balasore Lok Sabha seat.
Samantsinghar had changed camps and joined the BJD after snapping ties with the BJP. Congress’s Srikant Jena ended third by polling 2,37,007 votes.
Bargarh: BJP’s Pradip Purohit defeated BJD’s Parinita Mishra by a margin of over 2,51,667 lakh votes. Congress candidate Sanjay Bhoi ended third by polling 93551 votes.
Berhampur: BJP leader Pradip Panigrahi won the Berhampur Lok Sabha seat by defeating BJD’s Bhrugubaxipatra by a margin of over 1.63 lakh votes. Bhrugu had also joined BJD ahead of the crucial polls after quitting the BJP.
Dhenkanal: BJP’s Rudra Narayan Pani also clinched the Dhenkanal Lok Sabha seat for the party. He defeated BJD’s Abinash Samal by a margin of 76,567 votes. Congress’s Sashmita Behera poled over 34730 votes.
Sambalpur: BJP’s Dharmendra Pradhan defeated BJD’s heavyweight Pranab Prakash Das by a margin of 1,19,836 votes. Das polled 4,72,326) votes while Congress’ Nagendra Pradhan got over 89,113 votes.
Puri: BJP’s heavyweight Sambit Patra snatched the Puri Lok Sabha seat from BJD this time. Patra defeated BJD leader and former IPS officer Arup Mohan Patnaik by a margin of 1,04, 709 votes. Congress’ Jayanarayan Pattanayak polled over 24342 votes.
Bolangir: BJP’s Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo defeated BJD’s Surendra Bhoi by a margin of over 1.25 lakh votes. Congress’ Manoj Mishra ended third by polling over 2.16 lakh votes
Bhadrak: BJP’s Abhimanyu Sehti won the battle against the BJD’s Majulata Mandal by margin of 91,544 votes. Mandal secured 4,81,755 votes while Congress Ananta Sethi got 2,21, 847 votes.
Nabarangpur: BJP’s Balabhadra Majhi defeated BJD heavyweight Pradeep Majhi by a margin of 87,536 votes to win the Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seat.
Sundargarh: BJP veteran Jual Oram defeated BJD’s Dilip Tirkey by a margin of 1,38,808 votes. Tirkey got 35,5,474 votes while Congress’ Janardan Dehury ended third in the contest by polling 2,61,986 votes.
Mayurbhanj: BJD’s Sudam Marndi was defeated by BJP’s Naba Charan Majhi in the Mayurbhanj lok Sabha seat. Majhi defeated Marndi by a margin of over 2,19, 334 votes. Congress candidate Anjani Soren got 1,35,399 votes.
Kalahandi: BJP’s Malavika Devi trounced BJD’s Lambodar Nial to win the Kalahandi Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 1,33,813 votes. Nial polled 4,10, 490 Congress’s Droupadi Majhi poled 3,03,199 lakh votes.
Kandhamal: BJP’s Sukant Panigrahi defeated BJD’s sitting MP Achyuta Samanta by a margin of over 21,371 votes. Samanta polled 39,5044 votes while Congress’ Amir Chand Nayak got 1,44,322 votes.
Jajpur: BJP’s Rabindra Narayan Behera defeated BJD’s Sharmitha Sethi by a margin of 1587 votes. Sethi got 5,32, 652 votes while Congress’ Anchal Das pollled over 53,145 votes.
Keonjhar: BJP’s Ananta Nayak defeated BJD’s Dhanurjaya Sidu by a margin of over 97,042 votes. Sidu polled 4,76,881 votes. Congress Binod Bihari Naik ended third with 1,05,278 lakh votes.
Aska: BJP’s Anita Subhadarshini trounced BJD’s Ranjita Sahoo by a margin of over 99,974 votes. 3,94,252 Congress Debakanta Sarma ended third in the contest by getting over 75,225 votes.
Koraput: Congress’s sitting MP Saptagiri Ulaka defeated BJD’s Kausalya Hikaka by a margin of 1,47,774 votes. BJP’s Kaliram Majhi got 2,32,514 votes.
Jagatsinghpur: BJP’s Bibhu Prasad Tarai defeated BJD’s Rajashree Mallick by a margin of 40,696 votes. Mallick polled 54,8397 votes while Congress’ Rabindra Sethy poled over 123570 votes.
What Leaders Said After Results
Euphoric over the BJP’s victory in Odisha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took to X handle and wrote, “Thank you Odisha! It’s a resounding victory for good governance and celebrating Odisha’s unique culture. BJP will leave no stone unturned in fulfilling the dreams of people and taking Odisha to new heights of progress. I am very proud of all our hardworking Party Karyakartas for their efforts.”
Taking to X handle, BJP National President JP Nadda, wrote, “Thank you, Odisha! I extend my warmest gratitude on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party to all the people of Odisha for entrusting their faith in our party. This resounding mandate reflects the collective aspiration to journey forward under the visionary leadership and unparalleled guidance of Hon. PM Shri @narendramodi ji. A special acknowledgment goes out to the diligent @BJP4Odisha karyakartas and BJP State President @SamalManmohan7 ji, whose tireless efforts and commitment ensured the delivery of Modi Ji's vision and the Party's ideology to every doorstep. Your hard work and dedication have been instrumental in securing this decisive victory.”
BJP’s National Vice President Baijayant Panda who won the Kendrapara Lok Säbha seat shouted, “Jai Jagannath, Jai Shree Ram, Jai Bladevjew and Jai Shree Ram! Today is a historic day for Odisha. Our journey has begun build new Odisha. I thank 4.5 crore people for handing out a historic win for the BJP. The people of Odisha have retained Odia asmita.”
Celebrating the party’s victory at the BJP party office in Bhubaneswar, Dharmendra Pradhan, who won the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat, said, “My namaskar to 4.5 crore Odia people for the success by respecting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
Later speaking to the media, Pradhan said, “On behalf of all (BJP workers and supporters) and popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I offer my devotion-filled gratitude to Lord Jagannath as a new history was scripted in Odisha. As per trends, the BJP is going to get a decisive victory in 19 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. BJD had got an opportunity to serve Odisha for 24 years. Our Honourable Prime Minister had appealed to the voters of Odisha to give a chance to the BJP to make the state a part of the Viksit Bharat. 4.5 crore people of Odisha responded to the appeal and the BJP is going to form the government for the first time in the state. The PM predicted that the BJP government will take oath on June 10 and his words have come true.”
After winning the Bhubäneswar Lok Sabha seat, Aparajita Sarangi said, “The people used to fight for me as I had said earlier. I pay my obeisance to lakhs of BJP workers. I also thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president JP Nadda and BJP state president Manmohan Samal. The people of Bhubansewar again gave me a chance to serve them.”
BJP leader Sabit Patra who won the Puri Lok Sabha seat, said, “I give credit to Lord Jagannath, our leaders, our party workers and our development agenda.”
BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said, “The people have brought about a change. A new age has started in Odisha. The people trusted Prime Minister Narendra Modi who appealed for a five-year chance to serve them.”
Senior BJP leader Jual Oram, who had announced that it was his last election, also won from Sundargarh Lok Sabha seat. He said,“With an objective to give way to young generation, I had requested party high command that I will not contest polls anymore. I have won for six times and I am happy over BJP’s win. I had earlier predicted that BJP would form government solely in Odisha. I am hurt over defeat of some party leaders like Dilip Ray and others.”
Senior BJP leader Pratap Sarangi said, “PM Modi is a visionary and whatever he said is going to come true. It was not a BJP battle; rather people were fighting the elections this time. The biggest crime of BJD government is the murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati. Till now, the conspirators have not been booked. BJP will certainly swing into action on several fronts including Chit Fund scam.”
BJP’s Pradip Purohit, who won the Bargarh Lok Sabha seat by a huge margin of over 2.5 lakah vots, said, “Central and Odisha state leadership gave met ticket and the people of Bargarh gave me so much blessings to me that I won by a massive margin. I give credit to the people for such success.
Senior BJP leader Jayanarayan Mishra said, “I thank the people of Odisha for the mandate and showing faith in BJP. It is a land sliding victory and it has been possible due to the cooperation from people. We will work to fulfil the promises made to the people be it MSP, Subhadra Yojana and other assurances.” On who will be BJP’s CM face, Mishra said that the party’s leadership will take a decision on it, Mishra said, “There was no image of Naveen Patnaik. Rather the BJD used to win polls on money and muscle power. PM Modi’s Guarantee and people’s support helped party to win Odisha. PM Modi had earlier predicted the expiry date of BJD and oath taking ceremony of BJP CM.”
Congress leader Ramesh Jena, who won from Sanakhemundi, said, “I congratulate our workers and people for showing faith in Congress. We will again reclaim the Ganjam which was once a Congress bastion. The BJD government was in power for long and the people wanted a change. Though Congress was an alternative, we could not capitalise due to several issues like tickets and others.”
BJP leader Surama Padhi won the Ranpur Assembly seat said,”For the astounding results, I wish good wished to voters of my Ranpur constituency. I thank thousands of my arty workers for the success.”
BJP Padyumna Nayak in Bhanjanagr who defeated six-time BJD MLA Bikram Keshari Arukh said,”My workers are happy after such a success in BJD’s fort Bhanjanagar.Our priority will be to improve agriculture. Our win margin decreased due to money distribution by the BJD.’
BJD leader Ganeswar Behera who won the Kendrapara seat said,”The victory was not easy. I will give credit to BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and thousands of party workers in Kendrapara. The party.”
BJP leader Upasana Mohapatra who won Bramhagiri seat,”The Modi’s guarantee worked and brought a wave of change in Odisha.”
BJP’s Sidhant Mohapatra, who won from Digapahandi assembly seat, said, “After winning the seat, my responsibility has increased. I will double up my efforts to serve people. People were upset with the BJD government.”
BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan, who lost by only 34 votes from BJD’s Ananta Jena in Bhubaneswar Central seat, said, “We will carry forward our activities to strengthen the party. We will try to reach out to people during their weal and woes.”
Taking to X handle, Chief Minister Naveen Pantaik, who lost the Kantabanji Assembly seat to BJP's Laxman Bag by a margin of over 16,000 votes and won the Hijili seat, took to X handle and wrote, My best wishes to all the winning candidates irrespective of party affiliation. I express my respect and gratitude for the dedicated efforts and sacrifices of all the workers and leaders of Biju Janata Dal.”
BJD leader Sasmit Patra said, “We thank 4.5 crore people of Odisha for blessing the BJD to serve the state for over 24 years. We give you thank for giving us to win 54 seats. The people have also given the BJD 40 per cent vote share. We also congratulate the BJP for such electoral success.”