Explained: Why Congress stares at near collapse in Odisha

In the Lok Sabha election, the BJD was leading in 14 seats, and despite a surge in the BJP's seats from 1 in 2014 to 6 this time, it could claim to have retained the state at the parliamentary level as well.

Naveen Patnaik is poised to become Chief Minister of Odisha for a record fifth term, having resisted a massive BJP wave that has swept across the country, apart from 19 years of incumbency.

In the Lok Sabha election, the BJD was leading in 14 seats, and despite a surge in the BJP’s seats from 1 in 2014 to 6 this time, it could claim to have retained the state at the parliamentary level as well.

By mid-afternoon, the BJD was leading in 115 out of 146 seats in the Assembly, with almost all of its heavyweight MLAs and ministers winning. The BJD’s welfare schemes have clearly retained their popularity with the voters.

However, with 21 seats until mid-afternoon, the BJP looked set to replace the Congress as the largest Opposition party.

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The Congress stares at near collapse in Odisha, despite party president Rahul Gandhi addressing rallies across the state. Both the BJD and BJP seem to have benefited from the collapse in the Congress vote.

The BJD is poised to reclaim its Lok Sabha bastions Aska, Kendrapara and Berhampur. However, the BJP was leading in Bargarh, Bolangir, Bhubaneswar, Kalahandi and Sundergarh. A tight contest was under way at the Puri, Balasore and Dhenkanal seats.

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