Orissa Assembly Election Results in 2004

Elections to the 13th Legislative Assembly of Orissa were held in April 2004. 802 candidates from various political parties were in fray, contesting in a total of 147 Assembly constituencies. 1,69,33,456 valid votes were cast in which, owing to the people-centric welfarist schemes of Naveen Patnaik, the Biju Janata Dal was reinstated to power through a coalition government with the then-popular BJP-led NDA. While the BJD won 61 seats out of the 84 Assembly seats in which it contested, the BJP won 32 seats. The Congress on the other hand, regained its appeal among the masses, by bagging only 38 Assembly seats. M. M. Rajendran continued in the prestigious post of Governor of Orissa for the first few months of this term of the Orissa Assembly, before he was replaced by former Union Minister of India, Rameshwar Thakur, who remained the Governor of the state till 2007. Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare remained the Governor from August 2007 till the end of the term. Maheswar Mohanty was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Orissa Vidhan Sabha during the majority of this period, till 2008 when he was replaced by Kishore Kumar Mohanty for the last few months of this tenure. Prahlad Dora was unanimously elected as the Deputy Speaker. Naveen Patnaik, President of the Biju Janata Dal continued in the office of the Chief Minister of Orissa for a second consecutive term.

Naveen Patnaik continued to reach out to the masses through his good work. The BJD government initiated a separate agricultural budget for the farmers, increasing the budget allocation for agriculture from rupees 2000 crores to rupees 7000 crores. Through a number of schemes such as the ‘Biju Krushak Vikas Yojna’ and the ‘Biju Krushak Kalyan Yojna’, Naveen Patnaik has ensured agricultural loans at a nominal 2% rate of interest. The BJD government also implemented a number of schemes in youth policies, such as ‘Biju Yuba Sashaktikaran Yojna’, to ensure youth-led development in the state by providing free laptops and other financial assistance such as internship programs within the government offices.

Some of the most important legislations passed in the Orissa Assembly during this period were:

• Orissa Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2004
• Orissa Industries Act, 2004
• Orissa Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Act, 2004
• Orissa Town Planning and Improvement Trust (Amendment) Act, 2005
• Orissa Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2005
• Orissa Special Courts Act, 2006
• Orissa National Law University Act, 2008

List of Successful Candidates in Orissa Assembly Election in 2004

List of Participating Political Parties in Orissa Assembly Election in 2004