BJD’s vote share in tact in face of saffron surge

BHUBANESWAR: While the ruling BJD’s vote share decreased by a slender 1.3 per cent in 2019 Lok Sabha elections compared to 2014, in the Assembly polls, the regional outfit’s share increased by the same margin though the party won five seats less than the earlier election.

The BJD had won 20 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 polls. The number of Lok Sabha seats won by the party this time, however, came down to 12. Despite an increase in its vote share, the number of Assembly seats won by the regional outfit came down from 117 to 112. According to the data released by the Election Commission (EC), the BJD got nearly three lakh less votes in the Lok Sabha polls compared to the Assembly elections. While the party polled 10,172,041 votes in Lok Sabha polls, the number of votes increased to 10,470,941 in the Assembly elections.

The BJP’s vote share increased in both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. The saffron party, which won eight Lok Sabha seats in 2019 elections, bagged only 23 Assembly seats. The BJP’s vote share in Lok Sabha polls increased to 38.4 per cent from 21.5 per cent in 2014, a jump of 16.9 per cent.
The saffron party polled 91,29,773 votes in Lok Sabha polls while the number came down by 15,20,292 in the Assembly elections to 76,09,581, partly explaining the reason why its tally was limited only to 23.
However, the vote share of Congress decreased in both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls this time. While the party’s vote share in Lok Sabha seats was 13.8 per cent compared to 26 per cent in 2014, in the Assembly polls, the votes polled by the party slumped from 25.7 per cent in 2014 to 16.1 per cent in 2019. While Congress polled 32,85,192 votes in Lok Sabha elections, in Assembly polls, the number of votes bagged by the party increased to 37,75,320.
Congress had left three Lok Sabha seats and six Assembly seats to Left parties and JMM as part of electoral understanding in this election.