Lok Sabha Elections – Orissa : Election Backgrounder 19
The State of Orissa will be going for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and legislative assembly in two phases on April 20 and April 26, 2004. This is the first time since 1971, Orissa will witness simultaneous polls. The election machinery in the State is being geared up for elections to 21 Lok Sabha and 147 assembly seats in an area spanning over 1,55,707 sq.km.
The first Lok Sabha elections in the state were held from December 20, 1951 to January 24, 1952 for then existing16 Lok Sabha constituencies (4 double and 12 single). The number of seats was raised to 21 in 1977 during the 6th Lok Sabha elections. Out of 21 seats now, 3 seats are reserved for SC and 5 for ST.
During the 1st and 2nd Lok Sabha elections in 1951 and 1957, Congress bagged 11 and 7 seats respectively, followed by Ganatantra parishad, a regional party, which got 6 seats in 1951 and 7 seats in 1957. Congress continued its lead till the 3rd Lok Sabha elections. But in the 1967 elections, Swatantra party got 8 seats while Congress could secure 6 seats. In 1977 Janata Party secured 15 seats Congress could manage only 4 seats compared to its 15 seats win in the 1971 elections. Setback to Congress in 1977 elections did not last long as in 1980 and 1984 elections, it swept all the seats in the State, barring one. The elections held in 1989 saw Janata Dal emerging as the major force in the state bagging 16 seats.
During the 12th Lok Sabha elections in 1998, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got a foothold in the state winning 7 seats and in 1999 elections it increased its tally to 9. The BJP consolidated its position by alligning with the regional party, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) which came into existence on December 15, 1997 after the split in the Janata Dal. BJD, which had opened its account with 9 members in the 12th Lok Sabha, increased its tally to 10 seats in the 13th Lok Sabha elections. In the 13th Lok Sabha elections, BJD-BJP alliance secured 19 seats leaving only 2 for the Congress party.
Notification for the first phase of elections in Orissa would be issued on March 24, 2004 and that for the second phase on March 31, 2004. Scrutiny of nominations would be held on April 2 and April 8, 2004 for first and second phase respectively. The last date for withdrawal of candidatures has been fixed as April 5 and April 10, 2004.
In the first phase, on April 20, 2004, 11 Parliamentary Constituencies alongwith the corresponding 77 Assembly segments that would go for polls are Berhampur, Koraput(ST), Nowrangpur(ST), Kalahandi, Phulbani(SC), Bolangir, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Sundergarh(ST) and Keonjhar(ST). During the second phase, on April 26, 2004, 10 Parliamentary Constituencies and corresponding 70 Assembly Constituencies, that would go in for elections are Mayurbhanj(ST), Balasore, Bhadrak, Jaipur(SC), Kendrapada, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Bhubaneswar and Aska.
Counting of votes would be held on May 13.
(Release ID :1384)