Odisha Election Result 2024: Will BJP end Naveen Patnaik’s 24-year rule? Early trends show PM Modi’s party in lead

Early trends for the Odisha Assembly Election Result 2024 show a twist favouring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Election Commission of India (ECI) data shows BJP leading in 73 assembly constituencies and the BJP way ahead in 50 assembly constituencies.

According to the ECI data, the Congress was leading on 12 seats and the CPI(M) on one seat, as of around 11:30 am. A political party needs to win 74 seats in the 147-member Odisha assembly to form the government in the state.

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Naveen Patnaik's 24-year rule

Naveen Patnaik has been the chief minister of Odisha since 2000. If re-elected this time, Patnaik would assume power for the sixth term and may go on to become India’s longest-serving Chief Minister, breaking former Sikkim CM Pawan Kumar Chamling’s record. 

Patnaik had won by a comfortable majority, winning 112 seats in the 2019 Odisha Assembly polls. The BJP had then won 23 seats of the total 147 assembly seats in Odisha. 

In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, too, the BJD had won 12 seats, four more than the BJP.

What exit polls predicted?

The Axis My India exit poll predicted a neck-and-neck fight between the BJP and the BJD. It predicted 62 to 80 seats for the BJP in the 147-seat Odisha Assembly. The poll further showed a fall in Patnaik's BJD tally. As per the exit poll, the BJD may also win 62 to 80 seats.

Meanwhile, Jann Ki Baat's exit poll suggested that the BJP is expected to get 15 to 18 seats, while the BJD will get 7 to 3 seats in Odisha and zero seats to the INDIA bloc.

If the exit poll proves right, this could be the first time in a long time that the BJD won't get an absolute majority in the assembly and sail through to form government in the state.

Not just in the state assembly, but also in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, most exit polls have predicted a big win for the BJP over the BJD. Today's Chanakya projected 16 ± 3 seats seats for the BJP and 4 ± 2 seats for the BJD in the Lok Sabha polls. There are a total of 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha.