Bhubaneswar: The BJP was ahead in 18 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, while the BJD was leading in two parliamentary seats and the Congress was ahead in one constituency, as per initial trends.

BJP candidates were ahead of their rivals in Keonjhar, Puri, Bolangir, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Dhenkanal, Sundergarh, Bhubaneswar, Jagatsinghpur and Kalahandi Lok Sabha seats.

The counting of EVM votes started after the completion of the counting of postal ballot which commenced at 8 am on Tuesday.

Officials said there may be around 30 rounds counting for assembly segments in the state. PTI