Bhubaneswar: Governing Biju Janata Dal (BJD) registered a landslide victory in the by-poll to Jharsuguda Assembly Constituency. BJD candidate Deepali Das won the by-election with a margin of 48,721votes from nearest rival from BJP Tankadhar Tripathy.
According to the results announced by Election Commission of India, BJD got 1,07,198 votes while 58,477 votes polled to the kitty of BJP. Congress nominee Tarun Pandey lost his deposits with only 4,496 votes.
A total of 79.21 per cent of 2.21 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the by-poll held on May 10. The byelection was held following the murder of sitting MLA and the then Health Minister Naba Kishore Das on January 29 this year.
In the 2019 Assembly election, BJD had secured 98,620 votes while BJP and Congress got 52,921 and 18,823 votes.
The vote share of both BJD and BJP in this by-poll slightly increased by about 5 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively, while Congress’ vote share goes down by about 8 per cent.
In comparison to her father late Naba Das, Deepali got 8,578 more votes and the vote margin was also increased by 3022 votes.
The result indicates that both BJD and BJP were able to grab the votes of Congress in the by-poll.
Meanwhile, BJD workers and leaders started celebrating the victory here at the party office Sankha Bhawan and also Jharsuguda.
Welcoming the verdict of the people of Jharsuguda, State BJP President Manmohan Samal said, “I congratulate BJD candidate Dipali Das on winning the election. I also congratulate our candidate Tankadhar for giving a tough fight to the BJD in such an unfavorable condition.”
BJP never won the seat in the past. However, due to strong determination and work done by party workers, the BJP was able to raise the vote from 2,000 to 3,000 and then 52,000 in last poll to 58,000 in this by-election, Samal said.
“All credit goes to our party workers, who worked day and night for the party,” he stated.
The BJP President also said that Odisha is going to witness by-polar fight in upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections as Congress is nowhere in the picture now. “This will not only strengthen our democracy but also a good sign for the State,” he added.
BJD Supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to Deepali Das and congratulated her for the landslide victory in the Jharsuguda by-election.
Senior Congress leader Bhakta Das said his party will introspect the result and would take necessary action accordingly.