BHUBANESWAR: Congress state president Niranjan Patnaik on Tuesday described the party's twin defeats in Balasore Sadar and Tirtol assembly bypolls as a big setback.
“The results in the two by-polls are a setback for us. We need to introspect as to what went wrong and come out with a robust roadmap to revive the party from the grassroots. I thank all the supporters who have reposed their faith in the party. I promise we will come back stronger,” Niranjan tweeted.
As the counting ended, the vote share of Congress nosedived in the Balasore by-poll than the 2019 elections. However, the party's performance has slightly improved in the Tirtol by-election as against the 2019 show. The Congress fielded Mamata Kundu and Himanshu Bhusan Mallick as the candidates for Balasore Sadar and Tirtol by-elections, respectively.
Kundu secured only 4,983 votes out of the total 1,62,339 valid votes polled in Balasore, recording a humiliating 3.07% votes. She has lost her deposit. Any candidate, who fails to secure more than one-sixth (16.6 %) of the total valid votes cast, would have to forfeit his or her deposit in both Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
“BJD resorted to money and muscle power to win the election. We (Congress) have a weak organisational structure in Balasore,” Kundu told media persons.
Notably, the Congress had made Manas Ranjan Das Pattanaik as its candidate for Balasore Sadar assembly seat in 2019. Pattanaik had polled 19,704 votes (12.45 %) out of total 1,58,313 valid votes cast and was placed at third position after BJP’s winning candidate Madan Mohan Dutta (74,815 votes) and BJD’s Jiban Pradip Dash (61409 votes).
In Tirtol by-poll, the party candidate Mallick bagged 28778 votes (17.24%) out of 166921 valid votes polled. In the 2019 polls at Tirtol assembly constituency, Congress candidate Debi Prasad Mallick had secured only 23,804 votes (13.73%) of the total 1,73,423 valid votes polled. BJD’s Bishnu Charan Das had won the seat by bagging 93,967 votes. BJP candidate Ramakanta Bhoi had stood second with 53,581 votes.