Election 2014 results: Naveen Patnaik blocks BJP march, leads a landslide

BHUBANESHWAR: The Modi wave notwithstanding, Odisha wrote a different electoral story as Naveen Patnaik-led BJD headed for a landslide win in the state in the Lok Sabha elections.

At the time of filing, BJD candidates in at least 20 Lok Sabha seats had surged far ahead of their nearest rivals. In 11 constituencies, the main fight was with Congress while in the rest, BJP was a contender.

Prominent BJD candidates, sure of winning, included sitting MPs Baijayant Panda (Kendrapada), Tathagata Satpathy (Dhenkanal), Bhartruhari Mahatab (Cuttack), Pinaki Mishra (Puri), Prasanna Patsani (Bhubaneswar), Kalikesh Singhdeo (Balangir), Sidhanta Mohapatra (Berhampur) and Arjun Sethi (Bhadrak).

BJD fielded 11 new faces. Amongst them, Ladu Kishore Swain (Aska) was poised for victory with a huge margin of over 1.5 lakh.

Dillip Tirkey (Sundargarh), RS MP, was the only BJD candidate marginally trailing behind BJP's Jual Oram till reports last came in. Others who had established comfortable leads included Rabindra Jena (Balasore), Pravas Singh (Bargarh), Arka Keshari Deo (Kalahandi), Hemendra Chandra Singh (Kandhamal), Rama Chandra Hansda (Mayurbhanj), Rita Tarai (Jajpur), Nagendra Pradhan (Sambalpur), Jhina Hikaka (Koraput), Sakuntala Laguri (Keonjhar) and Kulamani Samal (Jagatsinghpur).