Odisha Panchayat Polls: BJD Takes Decisive Lead In Second Round Counting

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Bhubaneswar: The ruling BJD has extended its lead in the trends on the second day of counting for the Panchayat polls in Odisha on Sunday.

It was ahead in 329 of 370 seats, followed by BJP in 19, Congress in 17 and others in 5.

The Conch party has already secured victory in 263 of 295 Zilla Parishad (ZP) zones, the results of which were declared on Saturday, trouncing BJP in its strongholds of Kalahandi, Balangir, Sambalpur, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj.

The saffron party, which had stunned all by winning 35 per cent seats in 2017 rural polls, suffered a major drubbing in the first round counting as it could win only 6 per cent of the 315 Zilla Parishad seats.

The Congress and the BJP won in 14 ZP zones each.

Notably, the five-phase Panchayat polls had ended on February 24 with an overall voter turnout of 78.6 per cent, slightly better than the 78.03 per cent in 2017.