Riding on the ‘Biju legacy’ and spreading success stories of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, BJD MP Bishnu Das led his party to a spectacular victory in his home turf Jagatsinghpur, making a clean sweep of all eight Zilla Parishad (ZP) seats under the Assembly constituency.

Political observers believe that the victory is a spectacular come back of MP Das in Jagatsinghpur politics after he went into wilderness being defeated in 2014 Assembly poll by Congress’s Chiranjib Biswal.

Biswal had claimed before the panchayat election that the Congress would get all Zilla Parishad seats in Jagatsinghpur and Naugaon blocks.

MlA Biswal had predicted the elections would be a triangular fight among the BJD, the BJP and the Congress for which his party would be benefited but the election results have discouraged the Congress. The party has not been able to bag a single ZP seat.

Meanwhile, the BJP has entered in three Assembly constituencies such as Paradip, Tirtol and Erasama-Balikuda. Interestingly, State Excise Minister and Paradip MlA Damodar Rout has suffered a setback in ZP poll as two of his Kujanga ZP zones have gone to the BJP and the saffron party has maintained number two in Kujanga ZP zone 1. Rout has failed to prevent BJP’s entry in his home turf.

Tirtol MlA Rajashree Mallick too has failed to check BJP invasion in her Assembly constituency. But, Erasama- Balikuda MlA Prashant Muduli has retained BJD’s position as of the eight ZP zones under his constituency, BJD has won seven and Congress one.

In 2012 panchayat election, the Congress-supported candidate had captured Naugaon block panchayat samiti and the BJD supported candidate had occupied Jagatsinghpur block chairman post but this time the BJD is all set to form both the blocks’ panchayat samitis.

This time, the saffron party has opened its ZP account in Kujanga and Raghunathpur ZP zones and maintained second position in a few ZP seats in Biridi, Balikuda and Tirtol blocks, but performed miserably in Jagatsinghpur and Naugaon blocks.