Bhubaneswar: The Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD), the student wing of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), has claimed victory in more than 100 colleges across Odisha in the student union elections.

BCJD president Ipshitaa Sahoo described the outcome as a victory for the youth and alleged that the BJP had failed to win the confidence of Gen Z.

Targeting the BJP over the election results, Sahoo said the BCJD had achieved success despite facing ‘harassment and obstacles’. She claimed that the party could have secured a clean sweep had there been no alleged interference by the police and certain groups.

Sahoo highlighted the party's performance at Ravenshaw University and Kendrapara Autonomous College, describing the victories as significant achievements. She also claimed that the BCJD had performed well in several women's colleges across the state.

“The BJP has failed to win over Gen Z,” Sahoo said, asserting that the results reflected the aspirations of the younger generation. She claimed that young people had been expressing their dissent on various issues, from Delhi to Odisha, and predicted that they would give the BJP a similar response in the upcoming panchayat elections.

Sahoo described the student election results as a gift to BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, who is going to celebrate his birthday on October. She expressed confidence that the party would continue to perform well in elections in the coming days.

The BJD, meanwhile, accused the ruling party of putting pressure on the authorities of the several universities and colleges, including the Rama Devi Women’s University and Utkal University, to delay the counting of votes.