Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is expected to register its best performance in Panchayat polls.
Going by its current tally (win plus lead) after two days of counting, the party is likely to win 551, which is almost 89 per cent, of 622 Zilla Parishad zone seats for which counting has been held. The Opposition BJP and Congress are far behind with 6% (33) and 5% (21), respectively.
If this trend continues on the third and final day of the counting for 299 seats on Monday, the Conch party can create a record in the 2022 rural elections by surpassing its all-time best score of 651 in 2012.
The State Election Commission held counting of votes for 307 Zila Parishad zone seats on Sunday and 315 ZP zones on Saturday.
Of the 315 ZP zones, the Conch party has already won 281 seats, BJP 15, Congress 14 and Others 4.
The BJP seems to have handed over victory to the ruling party on a platter with none of its senior leaders, except Union Minister Bisweshwar Tudu, joining the electioneering. It also failed to translate several issues, including Mamita Meher murder case, into votes in Kalahandi and Balangir districts.
The BJD, on the other hand, has trounced the saffron party in its strongholds of Kalahandi, Balangir, Sambalpur, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj, where the saffron outfit performed exceptionally well in the last elections that took its tally to 297 seats. It has been reduced to zero in Mayurbhanj, where it won 49 of 56 ZP seats in 2017. In Kalahandi, the BJP could win only 4 seats against 33 in the last elections.
The BJD entrusted senior leaders, including MPs, with the charge of districts, six months before the poll dates were announced. With meticulous planning and tactical positioning of leaders, the Conch party seems to have turned the tables on BJP. BJD’s organising secretary Pranab Prakash Das was in charge of Mayurbhanj.
The distribution of Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) smart health cards, launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, also proved to be a game-changer in this year’s panchayat polls. He visited most of the 30 districts in the run-up to the polls and launched schemes and inaugurated projects.
For all three parties, the outcome of the rural elections may have a direct bearing on their performance in the upcoming urban polls and 2024 general and assembly elections.
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