With the counting of votes all set to begin from tomorrow (February 26), candidates in the fray and political parties appear to be in a state of nervousness, speculating the outcome.
The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is confident of a landslide victory. The party is sure about getting a thumping 90 percent mandate.
“People love Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Keeping that in mind, we believe that the election results will be one-sided affair. There is no denying of the fact that we will get 90 percent results in our favour,” claimed a confident Law Minister Pratap Jena.
The State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also hopeful of registering a better performance this time. “The people of Odisha have an inclination towards change. This is what makes us believe that our party’s performance will be beyond imagination,” stated State BJP President Samir Mohanty.
The State unit of the grand old party Congress is pinning its hope on coming second in the race. Senior Congress leader and Jatni MLA Suresh Routray said his party would be in second position after the BJD. “The BJD will be at the first position and we will finish second. Last time we won in 60 seats and this time it will go up to 200,” said a confident Routray.
At 8 am tomorrow the counting for 315 Zilla Parishad zones will begin. Similarly, on February 27 and 28, counting for 307 and 229 Zilla Parishad zones will take place, respectively.