Polling in Odisha, which was held in four phases with the final phase ending on June 1, was preceded by a high-voltage campaign featuring the top leaders of the three major parties: the BJP, Congress and the BJD.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned extensively for the BJP, holding several rallies and mega roadshows across the state, including one at Puri and another at Bhubaneswar, chief minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik led his party’s campaign, holding two roadshows in Bhubaneswar alone in addition to rallies in different parts of the state.

For the first time, the state witnessed an acrimonious battle between the BJD and BJP, which had never been witnessed in the past. Perhaps smelling a possible victory, or at least an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats, the prime minister launched a no-holds-barred attack on the chief minister.

Even Modi, who had earlier referred to Naveen as his friend, attacked him personally, making the campaign more intense. Naveen responded and appealed to the people to teach a lesson to the “political tourists” coming to the state and insulting him publicly.

With Modi and Naveen engaged in a fierce battle, the political ground has become more bitter. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joined the high-octane campaign targeting the BJD and BJP.

Sporadic violence marred the election process in some places, and it witnessed at least two murders as both the BJD and BJP workers clashed with each other, making the political atmosphere more rancorous.

Now, with the exit polls coming out with varying probable figures, making the BJP gain several seats in Odisha, the leaders of the BJD and BJP are nervous. While Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan maintained that election results would be shocking for the BJD, the leadership, including chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s close aide V.K. Pandian is confident of the BJD coming back to power for the sixth time in a row and coming out with spectacular results. The party also dismissed the results of the exit polls, saying they were false during the last elections.

BJD leader Sambit Routray said: “ When the EVMs are opened, we will see that voting has only been there for our symbol “conch”. We will get around 107 to 117 out of 147 assembly seats in Odisha.”

The BJD aims to win at least 13 Lok Sabha seats.

Former president of the state BJP unit Samir Mohanty said, “There is a 99 per cent acceptability of the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Odisha. We were the number two party in Odisha and will be the number one in the state tomorrow.”

The BJP aims to win at least 14 to 17 out of 21 Lok Sabah seats in Odisha.

On the other hand, Congress’s spokesperson, Biswa Ranjan Mohanty, is confident that Congress will do well in Odisha.

Editor of local vernacular paper Pragativadi, Birupkashya Tripathy, told The Telegraph, ‘“No one believes in the exit polls; in the past, we have noticed how the exit polls turned out wrong. The results depend on how the “silent voters” exercised their rights during the polls. It is to be seen. It’s foolish to predict the election results in a society which has been divided into many factions. The fight revolves around issues, such as Naveen’s image, Odia Pride, Naveen’s welfare schemes, and above all; Modi’s rising popularity and acceptability in Odisha.”