Bhubaneswar: With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) surging ahead in at least 75 Assembly seats in Odisha, many heavyweights of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) including Ministers were found trailing in their respective constituencies.
As counting of votes was in progress, Election Commission of India (ECI) data showed that BJD candidates were leading in around 54 Assembly seats with many of its heavyweight leaders trailing their BJP rivals. Congress nominees were ahead in 16 constituencies.
Prominent among the BJD heavyweights trailing during counting were Finance Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha, Forest and Environment Minister Pradip Kumar Amat, Science and Technology Minister Ashok Panda, Higher Education Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Water Resources Minister Tukuni Sahu and Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallik.
Arukha was behind his nearest BJP candidate Pradyumna Kumar Nauak by over 4929 votes in Bhanjanagar Assembly seat, while Amat was trailing BJP’s Saroj Pradhan by 1558 votes in Boudh. Ashok Panda was behind his nearest BJP rival Babu Singh in Bhubaneswar Ekamra constituency.
Similarly, Tukuni Sahu was behind her nearest BJP candidate Nabin Kumar Jain in Titlagarh by 8851 votes.
Amid BJP surge, BJD stalwarts like Debi Prasad Mishra, Kallikesh Narayan Singh Deo, Susanta Singh, Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik, Prafulla Samal, Snehangini Chhuria, Rita Sahu, Pushpendra Singh Deo, Ramesh Majhi and Dibya Shankar Mishra were also trailing.
