Karnataka Poll Results Will Have No Impact In Odisha: BJD

Bhubaneswar: The ruling Biju Janata Dal on Monday said the results of the Karnataka Assembly election will have no impact on Odisha.

“Since the BJD has always maintained equidistance from the BJP and the Congress, it would not matter whoever forms the government in Karnataka. People of Odisha have reposed their trust on the chief minister and will continue to do so,” BJD leader Surya Narayan Patro told mediapersons here.

Asked about the dismal performance of his party in the Karnataka Assembly election, senior Congress leader and OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik said the Karnataka election was just a result of anti-incumbency.

He, however, said the results of the Karnataka election will not affect the party’s prospects in Odisha. “The status of Congress in Odisha in the past was different. Of late, I have toured several areas in the state and found that the people have started believing the Congress. The joining of hundreds of BJD workers in the Congress bears ample testimony to it,” Patnaik pointed out.

On the other hand, the BJP leaders in Odisha are optimistic of the performance of their party in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

“The stupendous performance by the BJP in the Karnataka election has given a clear message of its ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’ mission, which will be reflected in Odisha as the people are fed up with the misrule of the BJD government,” senior BJP leader Pratap Sarangi said.

“We had won in Goa, Manipur and Tripura and have emerged as the single largest party in Karnataka. The people believe that the country wants the BJP government for development and prosperity. The winning spree of the BJP will stretch to Odisha. We are sure that our party will form the government in Odisha in the next Assembly election,” he maintained.