Bhubaneswar: Bharatiya Jajata Party (BJP) has established leads in Odisha Assembly elections with its candidates ahead of their Biju Janata Dal (BJD) rivals in at least 78 seats, according to latest trends.
Election Commission of India (ECI) sources said that BJP candidates are leading in 78 of the 146 Assembly constituencies trends for which were available so far.
Candidates of the ruling BJD were ahead in 54 Assembly seats as counting of votes is in progress at 70 centres across the state on Tuesday.
Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik was trailing by 1158 votes behind his nearest BJP candidate Laxman Bag in Kantabanji Assembly seat after third round of counting. Sitting MLA of Congress Santosh Singh Saluja is struggling at third place.
However, Naveen was leading in his home turf Hinhili by 1163 votes over his nearest BJP nominee Sisir Kumar Mishra.
Congress candidates were leading in 11 Assembly constituencies, while CPI(M) was ahead in one each. Independent candidates were leading in two seats during initial rounds of counting.
In a major setback for the ruling BJD, several senior leaders and Ministers are trailing the BJP candidates in their respective seats. Tukuni Sahu is trailing in Titlagarh, while Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak is behind in Mahakalpada.
While the BJP was leading in Assembly seats including Pipili, Bhubaneswar Ekamra, Brahmagiri, Raghunathpalli, Rourkela, Titlagarh, Satyabadi, Brarajnagar and Khurda, BJD was ahead in seats including Puri, Banki, Jharsuguda and Deogarh.
Chief electoral office sources said postal ballots have been counted and counting of EVM votes is underway at different constituencies. About 18 to 19 rounds of counting of votes will take place before declaration of final results.
