Bhubaneswar, March 11: The Congress today relegated the BJP to third position in the election to chairpersons for panchayati samitis, but the BJD continued to assert its supremacy by bagging the highest number of these samitis.

Though the State Election Commission is yet to make a formal announcement about the elected samiti chairpersons, the BJD today claimed that it had been able to form panchayat samitis in 218 out of 307 blocks of the state where elections were held. The state has 314 blocks in all.

The Congress emerged second in the race bagging 45 samitis and the BJP was relegated to the third position securing only 29 samitis. While the Congress has not been able to form a single panchayat samiti in 13 districts, the BJP has scored a zero in 16 districts, sources said.

Congress spokesperson Mohammad Moquim said: "The results show that our base in the rural area remains strong enough."

BJP spokesperson Pruthiraj Harichandan said: "Just wait for the final results, our tally will improve."