​Exit polls a mixed bag for heavyweights in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: The exit polls, which predicted a split verdict in the state with BJP gaining a number of Lok Sabha seats and BJD retaining its hold on the assembly, has held out a mix of hope and disappointment for Odisha’s high-profile contestants.
Elections to the 21 Lok Sabha seats and 146 out of the 147 assembly seats in Odisha were held in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29.
The most-watched among the high-profile candidates — Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda — will not win the prestigious Kendrapada seat, according to a survey by Sambad-Kanak News. The coastal constituency will go to BJD’s Anubhav Mohanty instead, it said. An India Today-My Axis India exit poll indicated that the Kendrapada Lok Sabha seat would see a tough contest between BJD and BJP.
Interestingly, Panda — in a comment similar to the stance adopted by the anti-NDA opposition — said exit polls ‘could be wrong’ while adding a caveat that they couldn’t be wrong ‘all the time’. “Exit polls can be wrong but not all time. I am not a stranger to Kendrapada. I have faith in the people of the constituency and have received love and support from them. I am confident of good results,” he told the media.
Panda, who represented the parliamentary seat on a BJD ticket in 2009 and 2014, joined the saffron party in the run-up to the polls after falling out with the regional party’s leadership.
"An Odia newspaper & channel whose owner/editor is a BJD MP has done an "exit poll" (without partnering any polling org!) claiming his party will win Kendrapada. It contradicts national polls & the vastly different mood noticed by many national journos who'd visited. Let's see on Thursday. The "exit poll" was actually feedback from their district reporters. They got it mostly right, indicating 14 LS seats for BJP, INCLUDING Kendrapada! Under pressure from CMO, they deliberately misreported Kendrapada," Panda tweeted.
Another heavyweight who may face a defeat according to Sambad-Kanak News is former BJD leader Damodar Rout, who contested on a BJP ticket from the Balikuda-Erasama assembly seat. Rout, however, expressed confidence of a good show. “I do not like to predict for myself. I received inputs from my constituents that I would win by a handsome margin,” said the veteran politician. He also predicted a hung assembly in the state.
While the survey holds out a cheer for bureaucrat-turned-BJP leader Aparajita Sarangi, who has been shown as winning the Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat, it may disappoint the BJD’s Rajya Sabha member and Bargarh Lok Sabha seat candidate, Prasanna Acharya. His rival, BJP’s Suresh Pujari, has been projected as winning the western Odisha constituency. “I am fully confident of a positive result. Let’s wait till the results are out,” said Acharya.
The India Today-My Axis India survey predicts a defeat for BJD’s high-profile candidate from the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat, Achyuta Samant, and a victory for BJP’s Puri Lok Sabha seat candidate, Sambit Patra.
Out of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the surveys have given BJP six to 19 and BJD, two to 15. The Sambad-Kanak News survey has predicted BJP’s win in eight to 12 seats and BJD’s in six to nine, leaving Congress with zero or one seat. The Times Now-VMR survey has predicted eight seats for BJD, 12 for BJP and one for Congress.