BHUBANESWAR: The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) swept the municipal body polls in Odisha on Saturday, March 26. The party won 76 out of the total 108 urban local bodies. All the Mayors and Chairpersons in 76 local bodies are also from the ruling party. As the municipal laws were amended recently, this was the first direct election of Mayors in corporations, Chairpersons of municipalities.
Out of the total 105 municipalities and notified area councils (NACs) in the state, the BJD emerged victorious in 73, followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party at 16 and the Congress at seven. The BJD also won the municipal corporations of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik thanked the people of Odisha for the support and dedicated the victory to “the untiring efforts of thousands of party workers.”