Orissa Assembly Election Results in 1985

Elections to the ninth Legislative Assembly of Orissa were held in March 1985. Out of 147 Assembly constituencies, elections were held in 145 seats as death of some candidates contesting in Kakatpur and Keonjhar had taken place. The Indian National Congress won with a thumping majority, bagging 117 out of the 145 seats, and formed the government in the state. No other party could compete with the Congress. Padma Shri Bishambhar Nath Pande continued in the prestigious post of the Governor of Orissa for the first few months of the ninth Assembly term, before he was replaced by Prof. Saiyid Nurul Hasan, eminent Indian historian and elder statesman of the Government of India. Prasanna Kumar Dash was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Orissa Vidhan Sabha during this period, while Chintamani Dyan Samantra was the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. Janaki Ballabh Patnaik of the Indian National Congress continued in power as the Chief Minister of Orissa during this period till December 1989, when he was replaced by Hemananda Biswal for the last few months of this tenure. The Janata Party leader, Biju Patnaik, was the Leader of Opposition in the Orissa Legislative Assembly.

Some of the most significant legislations passed in the Orissa Assembly in its ninth Assembly were:

• Orissa Development Authorities (Amendment) Act, 1985
• Kandhamals Laws Regulation (Repeal) Act, 1985
• Orissa Merged States (Laws) (Amendment) Act, 1985
• Orissa Official Language (Amendment) Act, 1985
• Utkal University (Amendment) Ordinance, 1985
• Orissa Famine Relief Fund Regulation (Amendment) Act, 1986
• Police (Orissa Amendment) Act, 1986
• Indian Penal Code (Orissa Amendment) Act, 1986
• Orissa Appropriation Act, 1987
• Orissa Forest Produce (Control of Trade)(Amendment and Validation) Act, 1987
• Orissa Advocates Welfare Fund Act, 1987
• Orissa Municipal (Amendment) Act, 1988
• Orissa Reservation of Vacancies in Posts for SC/STs Act, 1988
• Orissa Aided Educational Institutions Act, 1989
• Orissa Public Premises (Evictions of Unauthorized Occupants) Amendment Act, 1989

List of Successful Candidates in Orissa Assembly Election in 1985

List of Participating Political Parties in Orissa Assembly Election in 1985