Time to celebrate: BJP supporters show victory sign outside their office, (above) BJD workers distribute sweets and (below) Congress Bhavan wear a forlorn look in Bhubaneswar on Friday. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

When the entire state was glued to television sets for poll results, party offices of three major political parties, except the BJP, donned a deserted look during counting hours.

An almost deserted Congress Bhavan in Bhubaneswar reflected the abysmal performance of the party, which not only lost a number of seats but also a significant vote share in the state. Only a handful of youths were spotted in the party office in the hope of any miracle that would have saved the party from a humiliating defeat.

On the other hand, despite failing to cash in the wave of Narendra Modi in the state, hundreds of party workers were spotted rejoicing the nation-wide victory of the BJP in its state party office.

A gigantic television screen installed on the premises of the BJP party office continued to bring cheer among BJP workers till this evening. With every single win of the party in other states, the party workers danced and distributed laddoos among themselves.

“We could have done better in state elections, but we do not want to spoil the party. We have emerged as the single largest party since the 1984 general elections. This year’s election was an acid test for the party and we emerged victorious,” said Sourbah Sahu, a youth BJP party worker.

On the other hand, a thumping win of the BJD failed to attract its workers to the party office probably because of the extreme heat wave condition. However, crowed gathered at the office in the late afternoon and the party workers danced to the tunes of desi drums. Keeping an eye on the hot sultry weather conditions, both the BJP and the BJD has covered the land on their office premises with temporary cloth sheds. Absence of big television screens inside Congress and BJD party offices forced their supporters to depend on their cell phones for poll-related updates.

“The people of the state have again showed their confidence in BJD’s transparent government. We will continue with our celebrations. We also hope that a few winning candidates of our party would join the celebrations,” said a BJD supporter.

Though most of the government residences of former legislators donned a deserted look, the residence of Kalpataru Das, one of the prominent leaders of the BJD, was hustling and bustling with a number of party workers thronging his residence.