BJD steamrolls Opposition to massive win in Odisha Panchayat polls
The Hindu
BJD won 766 of the 852 seats declared by the State Election Commission
The ruling BJD Tuesday steamrolled to a massive victory in the three-tire panchayat elections by winning 766 of the 852 seats declared by the State Election Commission (SEC).
While the BJD swept the elections, the State’s principal Opposition party- the BJP could secure only 42 Zilla Parishad seats, followed by Congress with 37 ZP seats. Independent candidates won in three seats while four other seats went to smaller parties.
Of the State's total 853 Zilla Parisahad seats, the commission had held elections for 851 seats while one seat was won by BJD uncontested.
BJD secured some 52.73 per cent of 2,10,28,403 valid votes polled during five phases of polling held between February 15 and 24. While its rival BJP garnered a respectable but inadequate 30.07 per cent of votes and Congress 13.57 per cent. Independent candidates secured only 1.33 % of votes, while other parties got 2.79 per cent of votes.
The ruling BJD, which has secured 476 ZP seats in the previous 2017 rural polls, this time in 2022 gained 290 more seats. The BJP, on the other hand lost 255 ZP seats in 2022. While the saffron party had secured 297 ZP seats in 2017 elections, its tally has now come down to just 42.
Observers said the huge victory meant BJD would be able to consolidate its iron grip on rural Odisha, making it that much more difficult for rivals to wrest power from it in future elections.
The Congress, which had bagged 60 ZP seats in 2017, has this time round won a mere 37 seats. The seats won by Independents and others, which were 17 in the previous election, have dipped to just seven in this election.
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