neck-and-neck in 'BJD and BJP Odisha assembly elections'

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 Party retained power in Arunachal Pradesh after registering a huge victory in the assembly elections, Chief Minister Pema Khandu termed it a “historic day” and said that it showed “proincumbency” for the state government.

“This is a historic day for Arunachal Pradesh, especially for the BJP. The party set a new record in these Assembly elections...There is pro-incumbency in BJP. In 2019, we won 41 seats and in 2024 we won 46 seats,” he said.