BHUBANESWAR: In a big setback to
Congress as well as the
Naveen Patnaik government,
BJP is all set to emerge as the main opposition party in Odisha going by the unofficial results of the first phase of
panchayat elections which were known on Monday.
Of the 188 zilla parishad (ZP) seats that went to polls in the first phase, BJP won over 60 seats, the ruling BJD 112 and Congress just 10. Elections are being held in a total of 848 ZP seats.
Polling in the remaining 660 seats will be spread over four phases. In the 2012 panchayat elections, BJP had won just 36 of the 854 ZP seats. BJD won 651 seats and Congress finished second with 128.
Rajaram Satapathy is a special correspondent who heads the Orissa...
Read MoreRajaram Satapathy is a special correspondent who heads the Orissa bureau of The Times of India, Bhubaneswar. He holds a post-graduate degree in Development Journalism and Electronic Communication, and covers politics, human interest issues, forests, wildlife and environment, economics and natural calamities. Unassuming and quiet by nature, he loves music and reading.
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