BJD’s Dipali Das wins Odisha by-election beating BJP candidate by 48,721 votes

Candidate of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha, Dipali Das, had a landslide victory in the bypoll elections to the Jharsuguda Assembly constituency on Saturday, May 13. Dipali Das won the by-election, beating the nearest rival candidate Tankadhar Tripathy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by 48,721 votes.

According to the results announced by the Election Commission, the BJD got 1,07,198 votes while the BJP polled 58,477 votes. Congress nominee Tarun Pandey lost his deposits with only 4,496 votes.

A total of 79.21% of 2.21 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the bypoll held on May 10. The by-election was necessitated following the murder of sitting MLA Naba Kishore Das, who was the Health Minister of the state, on January 29 this year. In the 2019 Assembly election, the BJD had secured 98,620 votes while the BJD and the Congress got 52,921 and 18,823 votes each.

#WATCH | "This is a victory of the people of Jharsuguda, of those who loved my father, of the Chief Minister, of the people and BJD and of everyone associated with my father. This is a victory of Naba Das..," says Dipali Das, the BJD candidate & daughter of slain Odisha minister… https://t.co/KZbfeCArxP pic.twitter.com/Cw7V5s9B4n

— ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023

The vote share of the BJD and the BJP in this by-poll slightly increased by about 5% and 3% respectively, while the Congress's vote share went down by about 8%.

In comparison to her father late Naba Das, Dipali got 8,578 more votes and the vote margin also increased by 3,022 votes.

Meanwhile, BJD workers and leaders are celebrating the victory in Bhubaneswar at the party offices in Sankha Bhawan and also Jharsuguda.

(With IANS input)