Exit poll projects hung assembly in Odisha; huge gain for BJP and slide for ruling BJD
Bhubaneswar: The exit poll conducted by India Today-Axis on the Odisha Legislative Assembly seats predicted major gains for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a huge loss for the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
Both the BJP and BJD are expected to win in 62-80 assembly seats with each getting 42 per cent vote share. The Congress predicted to get 5-8 seats with a 12 per cent share.
Though the BJD has been projected to fall short of the magic numbers of the majority this time, the saffron party is expected to increase its tally massively.
The BJD’s seat share was shown to have declined drastically, giving an advantage to the BJP.
Senior Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati, while dismissing the exit poll outcome, said, “I don’t believe the exit poll outcome will prove right. In the past, many exit polls have gone wrong. We may not get our targeted number of seats. But, we will surely win a handsome and respectable number of seats.”
Bahnipati said the Congress was quite optimistic to win Koraput Lok Sabha seats.
In 2019, the Congress had won nine of the 147 assembly seats and one of 21 Lok Sabha berths in the state.
The majority mark in Odisha Legislative Assembly is 74.
