Continuing its winning streak, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won Saturday’s municipal elections, occupying 76 of the 108 urban local bodies. In last month’s panchayat elections, the party won 766 of the 852 district council seats in 30 districts.
Besides, the ruling party has occupied the posts of mayor and chairperson in 6 organizations. With the recently amended municipal law, this is the first time that the people of Orissa can directly elect the mayor of the corporation, the municipality and the chairperson of the NAC in addition to the ward councilors.
Of the 105 municipalities and advertised area councils (NACs) in the state, the BJD has won 73, with the BJP winning only 16, followed by the Congress in seven. Nine urban local bodies were protected by individuals.
The party led by Naveen Patnaik has also registered victories in three municipal corporations in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur. Thanking the people for restoring confidence in his party, BJD president Naveen Patnaik said in a tweet: This victory is a reflection of the love for jbjd_odisha and the tireless work of thousands of party workers. #OdishaLovesBJD “
He congratulated all the winning BJD candidates and appreciated the hard work of the party workers.
BJD candidate Sulochana Das, who was elected mayor of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, expressed gratitude to the people in the state capital for her victory. As a BMC mayor from a journalist, he said, “I am fascinated by the love people have shown me despite being a newcomer to politics.
Similarly, veteran BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan congratulated all the winning BJP candidates and thanked those who voted for the BJP in the urban elections.
With input from PTI, IANS
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