Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has won the byelection in Brajarajnagar Assembly constituency in the State’s western region with a massive margin. The polling in the seat was held on May 31 and counting of votes was taken up today.
A total of 11 candidates, including the BJD’s Alaka Mohanty, the Congress’ Kishore Chandra Patel and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Radharani Panda were in fray in the byelection.
Alaka Mohanty secured a total of 93, 953 votes and defeated Kishore Chandra Patel (27,831 votes) by a margin of 66,122 votes and Radharani Panda was placed in the third position with 22,630 votes.
The byelection was necessitated following the death of Kishore Kumar Mohanty, Alaka Mohanty’s husband and the sitting BJD legislator, in December last year.
Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha and BJD president, congratulated Alaka Mohanty on her landslide victory and thanked the people of Brajarajnagar for reposing their faith in their party. Thanking party workers for their efforts in the byelection, he said the victory had further strengthened the party’s commitment to serve the people.
The outcome proved BJD’s supremacy in the State’s politics once again. Earlier, the party had won all the four Assembly byelections that were held in Bijepur, Balasore, Tirtol and Pipili constituencies after the 2019 elections. While the party had retained Bijepur, Tirtol and Pipili, it had snatched Balasore from the BJP.
The Brajarajnagar result, however, brought hope in the Congress camp despite the party’s defeat. The party had finished third in all the previous byelections, with the BJP, the main opposition party in the State, being placed in the second position.
The BJP finished third in Brajarajnagar despite many senior leaders, including Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, campaigning in the constituency for days together. Radharani Panda, who had finished second in the 2019 election, not only suffered defeat, but also lost her security deposit in the byelection.
