Odisha Assembly Election 2024

Odisha Assembly Election 2024: Political Scenario of Odisha

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The Biju Janata Dal-led government, led by Naveen Patnaik, has finally collapsed after a stunning upset in the 2024 Odisha Assembly elections, with the Bharatiya Janata Party becoming victorious. As the BJP gains control in the state for the first time, this victory creates fresh opportunities in Odisha’s political landscape.

Key Highlights

  1. BJP leads in 78 seats, becomes single largest party
  2. BJD leading in 50 seats; sharp decline in tally from 2019
  3. Congress leading in 14 seats, CPI(M) leading in 1 seat
  4. Three independent candidates have emerged victorious so far
  5. BJD headed by Naveen Patnaik loses in Kantabanji, however, it wins in Hinjili
  6. BJD minister-Pradip Kumar Amat, Prafulla Kumar Mallik and Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak- are leading Bhogarai, Pallahara and Mahakalapada respectively.

2024 results

  • BJP Triumph: In the 2024 Odisha Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 78 seats, resulting in a momentous change in the political climate of the state.
  • Biju Janata Dal:The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) had a sharp decline, gaining just 50 seats as opposed to its prior total of 115 seats.
  • Congress Performance: Despite gaining 14 seats, the Indian National Congress (INC) is still only marginally represented in the assembly.
  • Date of Counting: The votes were counted on June 4, 2024, after a multi-phase voting process that lasted from May 13 to June 1.
  • Voter Turnout: 74.51% of voters cast ballots overall, indicating high levels of public participation in the democratic process.
  • Prominent Winners: Several BJD politicians who lost were among the notable winners, including Mohan Charan Majhi of the BJP, who was appointed as the next Chief Minister. 
  • Women’s Representation: Of the 147 MLAs elected, just 11 are women, which is a decrease from the previous elections. 
  • Criminal Records: Concerns regarding the backgrounds of candidates in the assembly have persisted, as proved by the naming of criminal cases against 85 elected candidates.

BJP’s Rise in Odisha

Following are the factors that may be attributed to BJP’s victory in the 2024 Odisha Assembly elections:

  1. Effective Campaign Strategy: The BJP launched a well-planned and aggressive campaign wherein they vented their feelings about issues of development, corruption, and partiality being meted out to inner circle sections of the people by the then ruling BJD government.
  2. Narendra Modi factor: Undoubtedly, the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his agenda of development did play an important role in the win of BJP.
  3. Organization structure: For the last few years, the BJP has been strengthening its organisational base in Odisha. It has made inroads into the grassroots.
  4. Anti-incumbency feeling: After 24 continuous years, some anti-incumbency sentiments against the BJD government had built up, which the BJP could encash.

Live update

Odisha to vote: Voting is underway now in the Odisha Assembly election today for 147 assembly seats.

Polling Time: Developed for the voters at 7 AM, it will continue till today 6 PM.

Heavy Voter Turnout: Reports are coming in about a good voter turnout as long queues have been witnessed in front of the polling booths.

Security Arrangements: Extra deployed security arrangements have been made to hold the electoral process without any hassle.

Major Groups: Three big players, namely BJP, BJD and the Congress, are fighting against each other to keep the majority in this assembly election.

Lok Sabha Elections: Along with the Assembly polls, elections for five Lok Sabha seats were held.

Good voter turnout: enthusiastic voters, said the Election Commission, evincing good interest in the electoral processes.

Weather Conditions: The heat does not appear to keep them from voting.

Updates about the Polling Stations: Some of the stations complained about minor technical problems; the complaints should be sorted out quite efficiently, they said.

Monitoring of Election: Observers are observing the elections in order to make sure that the principles of fairness and full transparency persist in the general process.

Conclusion

“This is a turnabout in the political scenario of the State,” said office bearers of the BJP in the State looking at their party’s victory in the 2024 Odisha Assembly election. These reasons for such successful quotients are multifold in forms of advocacy, Modi factor, and perceived weaknesses of the BJD. In case defeat hint of the party, it would be a wake-up call to reinvent the party by taking the grievances of the people into consideration.

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