Odisha Assembly polls: BJP inches close to halfway mark; ruling BJD leads on 24 seats

New Delhi [India], June 4 (ANI): Ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha was seen leading on 24 seats as per early counting trends while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) moved its way to the halfway mark with 43 seats as trends of the Assembly elections the Election Commission of India said on Tuesday.
As per data by the poll body out of the 146 Assembly constituencies, the Indian National Congress (INC) was leading on five seats and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) - CPI(M) was ahead on one seat in Odisha about two hours after counting of votes started today at 8 am.
Voting in Odisha concluded on June 1, along with the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha polls. The assembly polls in Odisha were conducted simultaneously along with the parliamentary elections.
Odisha Governor Raghubar Das had on June 3 dissolved the 16th Odisha state assembly ahead today's counting.
According to exit poll predictions, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to double its tally in Odisha in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP is making an effort to enter the bastion of Biju Janata Dal.
The exit polls also predicted that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is poised to retain power at the Centre with a thumping majority and register its third straight win in the Lok Sabha polls.
Odisha, with a total of 21 Lok Sabha constituencies and 146 Assembly constituencies, went to polls across four phases with the first phase held on May 13, and the following phases held on May 20, May 25, and June 1.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJD upheld its strong presence by securing 12 out of 21 seats, although this represented a drop from the 20 out of 21 seats it had won in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
The BJP, which had not been a significant force in the state before, made notable progress by capturing 8 seats in 2019, up from just 1 seat in 2014. The Congress, on the other hand, secured 1 seat in the 2019 elections in Odisha, marking an improvement from their zero seats in 2014.
In the last Assembly elections in 2019 in Odisha, of the 147 seats, the BJD won 112 seats, the BJP won 23 and Congress won nine seats.
The Lok Sabha elections were conducted in seven phases- on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. (ANI)