Bhubaneswar: With exit polls projecting two-fold jump in BJP’s Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Sunday claimed that these findings would be proved wrong after counting of votes on June 4.
Stating this, BJD MP and national spokesperson of the regional party Sasmit Patra told media that exit polls have been proven wrong in 2019 as well as 2014 elections. This time also these surveys are set to be proven wrong, he said.
Stating that BJD has conducted its own surveys and assessment, Patra asserted that the Naveen Patnaik-led party would win at least 12 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Similarly, BJD will also put up a spectacular show in the Assembly elections and win at least three fourth majority in the 147-member legislature, the BJD leader said.
“Our party will again form a strong and stable government under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik,” Patra claimed.
While the saffron camp was upbeat with enthusiasm among workers, Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal came out with a cautious reaction to the exit poll projections. He said it would be appropriate to wait till June 4 when trends will be available around noon.
Subsequently, a clear picture will emerge and there is no point in holding discussions and making claims, he said.
The state BJP chief, however, maintained that the people of Odisha want a change and there will be a change in the government.
Senior Congress leader and MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati claimed that the grand old party would definitely perform better than the 2019 elections.
Attacking BJD and BJP for making claims about forming the government in Odisha, the Congress MLA candidate said, “we are going to accept this.”
Following the end of final phase of polling on Saturday, the exit polls came up with projected seats for parties and alliances. If the numbers of exit polls are to be believed, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) may be in for a rude shock.
The ABP-C Voter exit poll has found BJP to be getting as many as 17 to 19 sets out of Odisha’s 21 Lok Sabha seats, reducing BJD to between just 1 and 3.
