Press Trust of India / Bhubaneswar May 16, 2009, 18:57 IST
The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD is all set to register a hat-trick by retaining power for the third consecutive term in Orissa as the party has already won 11 assembly seats while its candidates were leading in more than 80 constituencies, leaving main rivals Congress and BJP way behind.
The BJD supremo himself led the charge by trouncing his nearest Congress rival Raghab Parida in Hinjili assembly seat by 60,786 votes. "I feel absolutely humbled by the generosity shown by the people to BJD," he said.
Prominent BJD leaders who were ahead of their rivals included state ministers Prafulla Ghadai (Sukinda), Surya Narayan Patro (Digapahandi), Raghunath Mohanty (Basta) and Debi Prasad Mishra (Baramba) as the party was poised to secure absolute majority in the 147-member assembly.
The regional party, which fought the polls on its own after snapping ties with BJP and entering into seat sharing arrangement with CPI, CPI(M) and NCP, had also established leads in 14 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats as well.
However, BJD suffered setbacks as its candidate and the Speaker of the assembly Kishore Kumar Mohanty was trailing in Jharsuguda while party leader and minister Duryodhan Majhi lost from Khariar seat to BJP's Hitesh Bagarti.
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