Even as the ruling BJD swept both the lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the State, some of its senior leaders were defeated in their Assembly constituencies.
The most prominent among such leaders is former Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik’s buddy Ananga Uday Singh Deo, who lost to his veteran Congress rival and former Minister Narasingha Mishra in the Balangir constituency. Naveen Patnaik’s decision to make Singh Deo resign from the Rajya Sabha and fight the Assembly elections backfired.
Finance Minister Prasanna Acharya also lost to his nearest rival incumbent Congress MlA Subal Sahu in the Bijepur seat.
School and Mass Education Minister Rabi Narayan Nanda was another BJD leader who was unseated from his Jeypore Assembly constituency by Congress leader and former MlA Tara Prasad Bahinipati. Former Minister Sarada Nayak lost to his BJP rival Dilip Ray in the key Rourkela seat while former Minister Bishnu Das, a five-time MlA, was defeated by his Congress rival and former MlA Chiranjib Biswal in Jagatsinghpur.