Odisha: BJD heading towards landslide victory in urban polls

Bhubaneswar, March 26 (IANS) Like the recently concluded panchayat election, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) led by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is heading towards a landslide victory in the urban election for which counting was underway on Saturday.The counting of votes of 105 municipalities/notified area councils (NACs) and three municipal corporations of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur started at 8 a.m., and till evening, the final result had not been declared by the State Election Commission. As per the latest trend for the post of the chairman/mayor, the BJD candidates are leading in 76 urban local bodies (ULBs), followed by BJP which is leading in 16, Congress in 7 and independent candidates in nine. The BJD mayor candidates are leading with a comfortable margin in all three municipal corporations -- Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur. Thanking the people for re-imposing faith in his party, BJD President Naveen Patnaik, in a tweet, said, "Thank all the people of #Odisha for the overwhelming support in #OdishaMunicipalElection. The win is a reflection of the outpouring of love for @bjd_odisha and the untiring effort of thousands of party workers. #OdishaLovesBJD"He also congratulated all winning BJD candidates and appreciated the hardwork of party workers.
--IANS bbm/pgh

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