Pollsters have predicted that the BJP, which pulled off a surprise performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by winning 8 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state, is likely to double its tally.
Photo (From Left): BJD president and Odisha Naveen Patnaik, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarat Pattanayak and Odisha state BJP president Manmohan Samal
Bhubaneswar:: After the results of exit polls about Lok Sabha in Odisha came to the fore, leaders of various political parties, especially the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the opposition BJP and Congress, have reacted differently.
Though exit polls predicted an excellent electoral performance by the BJP in the Lok Sabha poll, the BJD and Congress expressed doubts about the exit poll results and sounded confident about their good show this time.
Pollsters have predicted that the BJP, which pulled off a surprise performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by winning 8 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state, is likely to double its tally.
Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal said the BJD government would fall on June 4 and the BJD would form the new government in the state with a clear mandate.
“I’m pretty sure that people in Odisha have decided to change their minds and the reflections will be found on June 4. We all have faith. Everything will be crystal clear about the change of the government,” he observed.
Samal reiterated his earlier claim that the oath-taking ceremony of the BJP’s chief minister will take place on June 10.
Senior Congress leader Taraprasad Bahinipati, however, exuded confidence that the exit poll results would prove wrong and his party would reach its target of 90 assembly seats.
“I don’t accept the claims of the two parties on government formation. Our president Sarat Pattanayak has said that the Congress, which won nine seats in 2019 elections, would bag 90 out of the 147 assembly seats. We will surely form the new government,” he added.
The Congress leader claimed his party would retain the Koraput Lok Sabha seat.
Sounding skeptical of the exit poll results, senior BJD leader Padmanabha Behera said, "the exit polls of different media have different assessments. The exit poll predictions are not always true. The BJD has its own assessment and will again form the government in the state with a good mandate. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will again take oath on June 9. We will do well in the Lok Sabha elections."
Earlier on Saturday, senior BJD leader V K Pandian claimed the ruling party in Odisha would secure 15 Lok Sabha constituencies.
“The BJD is winning 85 assembly seats after 3rd phase polls and with the 4th phase today, it will end up winning more than 115 seats out of a total of 147 and 15 Lok Sabha seats out of 21," the bureaucrat-turned-politician was quoted as saying to news agency, PTI.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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