Balasore/Tirtol: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidates registered an impressive victory from both Balasore Sadar and Tirtol constituencies when results of the by-poll were declared Tuesday.
In Balasore Sadar Assembly constituency, Swarup Kumar Das of BJD defeated Bharatiya Janata Party’s Manas Dutta by 13,000 votes.
Notably, BJP candidate Manas Dutta is the son of the late MLA Madan Mohan Dutta.
Similarly, in Tirtol Assembly constituency BJD candidate Bijaya Shankar Das defeated the saffron party candidate Raj Kishore Behera by a margin of 41,703 votes.
Notably, BJD candidate Bijaya Shankar Das is the son of late MLA Bishnu Das.
Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik, who had campaigned for two days in two virtual rallies for both the by-polls, congratulated Swarup Kumar Das and Bijaya Shankar Das for their “huge historic win, breaking all records in Odisha’s electoral history during this COVID-19 pandemic”.
While in Balasore Sadar Assembly constituency Swarup Kumar Das polled 83,895 votes, Dutta secured 70,447 votes. Congress nominee Mamata Kundu put up a dismal performance by bagging only 4,976 votes.
Similarly, in Tirtol Assembly constituency, Bijaya Shankar Das polled 88,310 votes while BJP’s Behera secured 46,607 votes. Congress nominee Himanshu Bhusan Mallick put up a very poor performance by bagging only 28,778 votes.
In 2019 general election, BJP candidate late Madan Mohan Dutta had won by a margin of over 13,406 votes by defeating BJD candidate Jiban Pradip Das from Balasore Sadar constituency.
On the other hand, in 2019 general election, BJD’s late leader Bishnu Charan Das had won by a marigin of over 40,386 votes by defeating BJP candidate Ramakanta Bhoi from Tirtol constituency.
The Congress which had also a hold on the two Assembly seats in past general elections has been gradually losing its vote share in the seat in the last three elections, primarily due to its weak leadership at the state level.
By-elections in the two constituencies were held November 3, following the demise of BJP MLA Madan Mohan Dutta in Balasore and BJD legislator Bishnu Charan Das in Tirtol.