BJD captures 18 out of 28 Zilla Parishads in Odisha; BJP gets 7, Cong 2

The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has captured 18 Zilla Parishads out of 28 in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to get 7, while Sambalpur was won by its rebel candidate. Polls were not held in two districts – Malkangiri and Nuapada.

The Congress won two Zilla Parishads. The party added Rayagada to Jharsuguda in a closely fought battle. BJD managed to add Nabarangpur, Sundargarh, Kandhamal to its kitty today.

BJP got a gift in Gajapati despite winning lowest number of seats there, as it had the lone woman SC ZP member. In Nabarangpur, the deal between BJP and Congress failed at the last minute, which helped single largest party BJD to capture the ZP.

In Sundargarh, Union Minister Jual Oram’s calculations completely failed, as BJD won the ZP with the support of Congress, CPI and George Sena. BJD got the support of one Independent Member to win Kandhamal.

While BJP leader Jayanarayan Mishra, newly-elected ZP Chairman and 9 other ZP members were suspended by BJP for defying the party whip, BJD too suspended its Koraput District Unit President Jayaram Pangi for fielding a rebel candidate and spewing venom against party leaders.

Zilla Parishad Chairperson Polls in Odisha:

BJD (18): Ganjam, Cuttack, Khordha, Puri, Kendrapara, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Koraput, Kandhamal, Boudh, Nabarangpur, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Dhenkanal, Nayagarh, Angul.

BJP (7): Bolangir, Bargarh, Mayurbhanj, Kalahandi, Deogarh, Subarnapur, Gajapati.

Rebel BJP (1): Sambalpur

Congress (2): Jharsuguda, Rayagada.

Elections Not Held (2): Malkangiri, Nuapada.

—Insight News Desk.