Even as election results of 21 Lok Sabha and 146 Assembly seats will be announced on Thursday, fates of many senior leaders of all the three major parties, the BJD, the BJP and the Congress, seem to be at stake.

Among Lok Sabha candidates, the fates of the heavyweights being watched eagerly include those of Basant Panda, Baijayant Panda, Balabhadra Majhi, Suresh Purjari and Kharabela Swain  of the BJP, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Arup Patnaik and Mahes Sahu of the BJD and Bhakta Charan Das and Pradeep Majhi of the Congress

BJP Kalahandi candidate Basant Panda is pitted against BJD’s Pushpendra Singh Deo and Congress’ Bhakta Das. BJP Kendrapada nominee Baijayant Panda fought against incumbent Rajya Sabha member and cine star Anubhav Mohanty. BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, during his campaigning, assured people to personally take care of development of Kendrapada. 

Incumbent MP Balabhadra Majhi, who quit the BJD for being denied party ticket, is fielded by the BJP from Nabarangpur against the BJD’s Ramesh Chandra Majhi and the Congress’ Pradeep Majhi.

The BJP’s Bargarh candidate Suresh Purjari was not at all prepared to fight polls from the seat. He might get a poll-jolt as Subash Chouhan, who was interested to fight the seat on a BJP ticket and was all prepared, quit the saffron party and joined the BJD. Chouhan’s shift is likely to help BJD candidate Prasanna Acharya grab the seat.

Kharabela Swain, who was fielded by the BJP from the Kandhamal seat, had a tough fight against his BJD rival Achyuta Samanta, whose contribution to the tribal community through his KISS along with his party’s support base are major factors in his favour.

Anti-incumbency factor might work against Bhartruhari Mahtab, who is pitted against BJP candidate and former DGP Prakash Mishra. Arup Patnaik, BJD candidate for prestigious Bhubaneswar seat, had a tough encounter with his BJP rival Aparajita Sarangi, who conducted a marathon campaigning.

Mahes Sahu of the BJD for Dhenknal faced a strong fight from the BJP’s Rudra Narayan Pany.

In the Assembly polls, the fates of Finance Minister and BJD Kendrapada candidate Shashi Bhushan Behera, Barabati-Cuttack BJD nominee Debashish Samantray seem to be at risk. Congress heavyweight Ganeshwar Behera’s chances in the Kendrapada seat look brighter. Samantray may find it difficult to retain his seat as Mahammad Moquim of the Congress has given him a tough fight.

The fate of PCC president Niranjan Patnaik, who is in the fray from two seats, Ghashipur and Bhandaripokhari, is also awaited with great interest.