The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha has won a by-election in Pipili assembly constituency of Puri district, where party candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathi defeated his nearest rival, BJP’s Ashrit Patnaik by a margin of 20,916 votes.
Maharathi got 96,972 (53.6 percent) votes, while Patnaik got 76,056 (42.04 percent) votes. Congress candidate Bishvokshan Harichandan Mohapatra got 4,261 (2.36%) votes.
Briefing the media, Odisha Chief Electoral Officer Sushil Kumar Lohani said, “A total of 1,80,930 votes were counted including 893 postal ballots. A total of 136 postal ballots were rejected due to various reasons. As per the counting of votes, BJD’s Rudra Pratap Maharathi defeated his nearest rival Aashrit Patnaik of BJP by 20,916 votes.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took to his Twitter handle to thank Pipili voters for their support and congratulated all the leaders and workers of his party.
ବିଧାନସଭା ଉପ ନିର୍ବାଚନରେ @bjd_odisha . . . . #BJDWinsHearts— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) 3 October 2021
BJD general secretary Manas Mangraj tweeted: “Many thanks to the people of Pipili for electing Rudra Maharathi. The people of Odisha have consistently supported Shri Naveen Patnaik in every by-election like Bijepur, Tirtol, Balasore and Pipili. It shows the love and blessings of the people of Odisha for Shri Naveen Patnaik.”
Maharathi thanked CM Patnaik and his father Late Pradeep Maharathi for his victory. He also requested not to celebrate in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
Senior BJP leader and School and Mass Education Minister Sameer Ranjan Das said, “It has been proved that the people of Pipli and Delang had placed faith in Naveen Patnaik and Biju Janata Dal. The opposition’s campaign failed.”
The crucial bypoll was necessitated after the death of BJD MLA Pradeep Maharathi in October last year. After the death of the seven-time MLA, the party got hope from his son Rudra Pratap.
The Congress, which was hoping to do better than the last time by fielding Bisvokeshan Harichandan Mohapatra, fared poorly. Ajit Mangraj, who was elected for the first time for the by-election, had succumbed to Covid. The by-election, which was earlier scheduled for April, was postponed due to the second wave of the pandemic.
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