BJP, BJD In Neck And Neck Contest In Odisha Assembly Election: Exit Polls

After predicting a landslide win for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha polls in Odisha, the exit polls on Sunday predicted that the state is going to witness a neck-and-neck fight with the two-decade rule of Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal facing a stiff challenge from BJP.

The exit polls have predicted a rise in vote share for BJP while the Congress is predicted to remain at a distant third with a voter share of around 4 per cent.

According to Axis My India exit poll, BJD and BJP are expected to win 62-80 seats in the 147-member legislative assembly in Odisha. The Congress is expected to win 5 to 8 seats.

The exit polls further said that the BJP is expected to gather a 48 per cent vote share while the BJD is predicted to get a vote share of 42 per cent.

In the 2019 legislative assembly elections, Naveen Patnaik-led BJD posted a thumping victory winning 112 seats out of 147 in the state. Patnaik was sworn in as chief minister for a fifth consecutive time since 2000. The BJP won 23 and the Congress managed to win nine seats in 2019.

The voting for the state assembly seats was held in four phases from May 13 to June 1 simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections.

The exit polls on Saturday predicted that the BJP-led NDA is expected to double its tally in Odisha in the Lok Sabha elections.

According to the Republic P Marq exit polls, the NDA is likely to win in 14 seats out of 21 and the BJP is expected to win up to eight seats.

The News18 Mega exit polls predicted that the NDA is likely to secure 13-15 seats of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. It predicted that the BJD is likely to get eight seats.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJD upheld its strong presence by securing 12 out of 21 seats, although this represented a drop from the 20 out of 21 seats it had won in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

The exit polls have also predicted that the NDA is set to retain power at the Centre with a clear majority and register its third straight win in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

According to the exit polls, the ruling BJP-led NDA is expected to improve its performance over its 2019 record when it secured 352 seats. The BJP is also predicted to improve its numbers from the 303 seats it won in the 2019 general elections.

The BJP-led NDA improved its numbers in 2019 Lok Sabha polls compared to the 2014 election. Once again, it is projected to follow an upward trajectory, as predicted by the exit polls.

2024 Lok Sabha elections were held in seven phases from April 19. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)