Biji Janata Dal (BJD) supremo Naveen Patnaik resigned on Wednesday, June 5, a day after losing the Odisha Assembly election 2024, which marked the end of his 24-year-long occupancy of the chief minister's post in the state.
Naveen Patnaik handed over his resignation letter to Governor Raghubar Das at the Raj Bhavan, sources cited in a news agency PTI report said.
Though several BJD leaders had gathered at outgoing chief minister Naveen Patnaik's residence, he came alone to the governor's house to tender his resignation.
BJP swept the Odisha Assembly election 2024 by securing 78 of the 147 assembly seats, while the BJD managed to win only 51 seats.
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Congress bagged 14 constituencies and CPI (M) secured one, while three Independent candidates also emerged victorious. The results were announced on Tuesday, June 4.
Naveen Patnaik had for the first time taken oath as the chief minister of Odisha on March 5, 2000.
The BJD also failed to win even a single seat in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP, which had last won only eight Lok Sabha seats, in 2024 secured 20 Parliamentary seats while Congress got one.
The Naveen Patnaik-led party had in 2019 elections won 113 seats in the assembly.
Both the BJP and the Congress increased their tally in the Assembly this time. While the BJP had only 23 seats in 2019, there were nine Congress members in the Assembly.
