BJP heavyweights: Patra gains slender lead; Panda trails by 32,000 votes

Its advantage BJD which leads in 14 of 21 Lok Sabha constituencies

Unlike the cakewalks which the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) enjoyed in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, its arch rival BJP is offering a tough fight to the regional outfit to reclaim the constituencies.

Kendrapara, the nerve centre of the BJD-BJP conflict and touted as prestige war between chief minister Naveen Patnaik and the one-time BJD loyalist Baijayant Panda aka Jay Panda, now contesting on a BJP ticket, has kept both the sparring parties in tenterhooks. But till latest trends emerging, two-time MP Jay Panda is trailing by over 32,000 votes to BJD nominee and Odia cine heartthrob Anubhav Mohanty. 

Puri, another crucial Lok Sabha seat in the state's coastal belt, is passing through a see-saw of electoral fortunes. After leading in the initial rounds of counting, BJD's sitting MP Pinakhi Mishra is losing ground to BJP's suave spokesperson Sambit Patra. Patra's lead though, is slender with about 2400 votes.

In Bhubaneswar, the number one Smart City, Aparajita Sarangi (BJP) has kept the momentum alive, maintaining a lead of over 9000 votes over her nearest competitor Arup Patnaik from the BJD. Bhubaneswar is billed as the battle of civil servants with Sarangi, a former IAS officer taking on the superannuated IPS Patnaik. 

The Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha's western hinterland point to a tilt in favour of the BJP. Sangeeta Singhdeo, BJP's contestant from Bolangir is leading over sitting MP and one among her kin- Kalikesh Singhdeo by a margin of around 11,000 votes. In Kalahandi, BJP's Basant Panda is leading over BJD's Pushpendra Singhdeo, an ex minister, by over 20,000 votes. In Sambalpur and Sundaragarh, the two other strategic Parliamentary seats in western Odisha, the BJP candidates in the fray- Nitesh Gangadeb and Jual Oram, a Cabinet minister in the Modi government are leading.

Seats with significant tribal population are rooting for BJD as trends suggested. BJD's candidates for Kandhamal (Achyuta Samanta), Koraput (Kaushalya Hikaka) and Nabarangpur (Ramesh Majhi) are leading over their adversaries.

The incumbent BJD was shown leading 14 out of 21 Lok Sabha constituencies. In the assembly too, the trends reflect a two-thirds majority for the regional party as the BJD is leading in 104 of 146 assembly segments where polling was held.