Bhubaneswar: Naveen Patnaik has continued his vice-like grip over Odisha with his party, BJD, leading in 110 seats in the 147-member House and himself set to become the chief minister for the fifth consecutive term.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has overtaken Congress as the main opposition party, is ahead on 23 seats. Congress is leading in 10 seats. In the 2014 Assembly elections, BJD had secured 117 seats while BJP bagged 10 seats. Congress won 16 seats in the state.
Patnaik became Chief Minister of Odisha in 1997. From then on he never lost in the five Assembly elections held in the state. In the Lok Sabha elections, which were held simultaneously with the Assembly polls, BJD is leading in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies out of 21 while BJP is ahead on 7 seats.
