After completion of third round, major pol parties claim

With the completion of polling on 15 Lok Sabha seats and 105 assembly segments after the third phase, all the three major political parties of Odisha--BJD, BJP and Congress--Wednesday claimed to perform better than the rivals. While BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik have claimed that his party has already got a majority to form government in the state by the end of the third phase of polling, opposition Congress too made similar assertions.

Going a step ahead, Patnaik also invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the BJD government's swearing-in ceremony as a guest after the declaration of results on May 23. BJD spokesman Sasmit Patra claimed that the regional party which has 118 MLAs in the 147-member Odisha Assembly and 20 of 21 MPs, will perform better than the 2014 results.

Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra is optimistic about his party candidates success in 2019 polls. "Our OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik has already said that Congress will form the government this time," Mishra said.

The Congress has only 11 MLAs and no Lok Sabha member from Odisha currently. BJP state vice-president Samir Mohanty said: "Our candidates will win more than half of the seats both in Lok Sabha and state assembly." The saffron party has been working with 120 Plus mission claiming that the BJP candidates to win at least 120 assembly seats in Odisha.

The BJP has only nine MLAs and one MP in Odisha at present. The state is set to go for polls in six more Lok Sabha seats and 41 Lok Sabha segments in the fourth phase on April 29. The polling for Patkura assembly segment will be held on May 19, an election officer said.