Bhubaneswar: BJD president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik once again proved that his party stands invincible in popularity at grassroots level. The ruling party came out with a stellar performance in the urban elections as in panchayat polls.
After the declaration of results of the elections to urban local bodies, the BJD left opposition BJP and Congress far behind across the state. The ruling party bagged all the mayor posts of three municipal corporations in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur for which direct election was held for the first time.
Out of 1,724 councillor posts in urban bodies, whose results were declared, BJD won 1,183 at a rate of 68.61%. BJP could manage to win in 286 wards, followed by Congress in 139 and others in 116. The elections were held in total 1,731 councillor posts in all the civic bodies.
In the election to 105 chairperson posts of the ULBs, BJD won 73 posts with a rate of 69.52%, followed by BJP with 16, Congress 7 and others 9.
Among the municipal corporations, BJD candidates were victorious in 47 out of total 67 wards in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), followed by BJP in 10 and others 9, while the grand old party Congress drew a blank.
In Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), BJD came victorious in 38 out of 59 councillor posts, while BJP could muster 7 seats, Congress 8 and others 6.
In Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC), BJD was again the front-runner with 30 out of 42 councillor posts in its kitty, while BJP could manage to win in 7 wards, Congress 1 and others 4.
The elections were held for 106 municipalities and 3 municipal corporations after 9 years. As per the State Election Commission, 65% of voters turned out to exercise their franchise and decide the fate of 6411 candidates.
It may be noted that the BJD had swept the panchayat polls by bagging 765 (+one uncontested) of 852 seats, smashing all its previous records. BJP and Congress were reduced to 42 and 37 seats respectively, while Independent and others won 7 seats. The Conch party is set to form Zilla Parishads in all 30 districts of the state.
