BJP in 2nd spot; BJD on top, counts losses

ODISHA PANCHAYAT POLLS

THE final results of elections to 851 zilla parishad seats in Odisha, declared late on Saturday night, put the BJP in second position with 294 seats, a sharp improvement from its tally of 36 in the 2012 elections. Though the BJD emerged the winner with 467 seats out of 837 seats declared, it lost several of the 651 seats it won in 2012 to the BJP. The Congress was pushed to the third position, with 60 seats.

Though the results of the elections – held in five phases between February 13 and February 21 -- were unofficially known at the end of the final phase of polling, the final counting and tabulation started on Saturday in 314 block headquarters amid tight security.

BJP won a majority in eight zilla parishads across 30 districts of the state and was on its way to gain control over three more in association with the Congress. The Congress, which managed a majority in the Jharsuguda zilla parishad, had won 128 seats in 2012.

As the results poured in, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said the people of Odisha had made up their minds for an alternative and raised their voices against the “corrupt, inefficient and incapable” BJD government.

The BJD, which had turned the Mahanadi river water dispute with neighbouring Chhattisgarh into a major poll issue, said the fight over Mahanadi river water and Polavaram issue was not for electoral gains.

Pinarayi Vijayan