Assembly bypoll: BJD retains Jharsuguda seat

Jharsuguda: The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) retained the Jharsuguda Assembly seat with Deepali Das defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Tankadhar Tripathy by a whopping 48,721 votes.

Deepali received 1,07,198 votes after all 19 rounds of EVM and postal vote counting were completed, while BJP nominee Tankadhar Tripathy received 58,477 votes. Tarun Pandey, a Congress candidate, received 4496 votes.

On May 10, a by-election to the Jharsuguda Assembly constituency was held, with 79.21% of eligible voters voting.

The Jharsuguda bypoll was called after Deepali's father, Naba Kishore Das, was allegedly murdered by a police officer on January 29.

Deepali's victory was obvious from the start of voting, as she had secured early leads. She increased her lead with each round of counting. She already had a lead of 28, 170 votes after the 11th. She increased her lead, and by the end of round 15, it had surpassed the 40,000 mark.

Deepali not only won by a large margin, but she also broke her father's record. Naba Das received 98,620 votes in the 2019 elections, winning by a margin of 45,699 votes over his nearest competitor.

Deepali expressed gratitude to the people of Jharsuguda for their overwhelming support and stated that her spectacular victory was made possible by the people's love and blessings. "I could win by a huge margin because of people's support and love," she said, adding that she will meet with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik soon to seek his blessings and guidance.

She stated that she will work hard to fulfill the promise she made to the people and make my late father Naba Das's dreams a reality.