Bhubaneswar, Dec 14 (IANS): Union Minister for Education and Skill Development, Dharmendra Pradhan, exuded confidence on Thursday that the BJP will win at least 15 out of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha in the general elections scheduled next year.

During an interview with a national channel on Thursday, Pradhan expressed hope that the party will secure more than 45 per cent vote shares next year's elections.

The BJP had garnered 22 per cent votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, while its vote share was 18 per cent in the Assembly elections held the same year. The party managed to win one Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly seats in 2014.

In the 2019 general elections, the BJP improved its tally to eight, while its vote share rose to 38 per cent. In the Assembly polls held the same year, the saffron party won 22 seats with a vote share of 32.49 per cent.

Meanwhile, the ruling BJD managed to secure 42 per cent and 44 per cent votes in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, respectively, in 2019.

"Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi is the most popular political leader in Odisha. His approval rating continues to remain above 80 per cent whenever any survey is conducted in the state,” Pradhan said.

He also claimed that Odisha has benefited the most due to the Modi government’s reformist policies.

Meanwhile, veteran Congress leader Jayadev Jena said that Pradhan is excited with the formation of BJP government in three states (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh) without fully analysing the results.

Jena claimed the Congress won 12 lakh more votes than the BJP in the recent elections.

The people of Odisha have understood that the BJP will not come to power in Odisha, he said.

On the other hand, BJD leader Amar Prasad Satpathy said that the vote base of the ruling party is not only intact, but also witnessed significant increase due to the clean leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the people-oriented programmes of the state government.