Bhubaneswar: With the end of the General Elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Odisha, some party hoppers have emerged as winners, and some lost the polls.

Many politicians had switched parties right before the 2024 elections in the state. The party hopping benefitted some leaders in the polls whose results were announced on June 4.

Some party hoppers including Sidhant Mohapatra, K. Anil Kumar and Purna Chandra Sethi, who recently joined the BJP after leaving BJD, won the Assembly elections with huge margin of votes.

While the actor-turned-politician Sidhant Mohapatra was elected to Odisha Assembly on BJP ticket from Digapahandi by defeating BJD's Biplab Patro with 16,847 vote margin, BJP candidate K. Anil Kumar won from Berhampur Assembly seat by defeating BJD's Dr. Ramesh Chandra Chyaupatnaik with 18,709 votes. BJP's Purna Chandra Sethi grabbed Khalikote seat by defeating BJD's Suryamani Baidya with 23,057 votes in the Assembly elections in Odisha.

Moreover, Prasanta Jagadev, the expelled BJD leader who recently joined the BJP, was elected from Khordha Assembly seat even as he was booked in an EVM vandalism case. He defeated BJD's Rajendra Kumar Sahoo and Independent candidate Kalu Charan Khandeitaray with 8,598 and 61,280 votes respectively.

The decision for switching parties proved wrong for some leaders in Odisha politics. The candidates like Rajani Kanta Padhi, who had joined the Congress camp after leaving the BJP, faced defeat after contesting the Assembly polls from Hinjili against BJD Supremo Naveen Patnaik. He lost the polls with over 61,079 votes. Similarly, Congress candidate Debasis Nayak from Bari met the same fate in the elections. He had joined the Congress after resigning from the BJD over denial of ticket. He received only 4106 votes in the Assembly elections.

On the other hand, MP Bhartruhari Mahtab was elected to the Lok Sabha for seven time consecutively from Cuttack Parliamentary Constituency on the BJP ticket. He had deserted the BJD just before the Lok Sabha polls to get the MP ticket from the BJP.

However, MP candidates like Bhrugu Baxipatra and Lekhasri Samantasinghar, who had jumped to the BJD after quitting the BJP before elections with a hope to acquire power, became losers in the polls. While Bhrugu lost to BJP's Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy with 1,65,476 votes from Berhampur Parliamentary Constituency, Lekhasri failed to make her debut as the MP from Balasore. She was defeated by BJP's Pratap Chandra Sarangi with 1,47,156 votes.

The 2024 elections brought many changes in the political environment. Even as it was crucial the BJP, BJD and Congress in Odisha and Centre as well, the election results scripted a history in country's politics. While the BJP received the mandate to form the government for the first time in Odisha, it was end of era for the BJD that ruled the state for last 24 years under leadership of Naveen Patnaik. The regional party suffered major setback with only 51 Assembly seats.

On the contrary, Congress performed well in the recently concluded elections as the grand old party in alliance with other regional parties gained massively to sit in opposition in the Parliament by securing 234 Lok Sabha seats in the country. The party made impressive gain in Odisha Assembly polls as its vote share increased and won 14 seats. The party had acquired only 9 seats in 2019 Assembly elections in Odisha.