CM congratulates Barsha over spectacular victory in Padampur bypoll

Bhubaneswar: Soon after the declaration of Padampur by-election result, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate Barsha Singh Bariha over phone and congratulated her for the spectacular victory.

The Chief Minister advised Barsha to work for the development of Padampur people, sources said.

BJP leader and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, meanwhile, said they are accepting the mandate of Padampur people with all respect. “We respect people’s verdict in Padampur bypoll. We will try to win the confidence of the people by strengthening our party organization and working for their development. I also congratulate the winner of the by-election,” said Pradhan in a twitter post.

The BJD retained the Padampur Assembly seat in a keenly-contested by-election as its candidate Barsha Singh Bariha defeated BJP nominee Pradeep Purohit by a margin of 42,679 votes.

Barsha was polled 1,20,807 votes while Purohit secured 78,128 votes in the by-election. Congress candidate Satya Bhusan Sahu came third with 3,594 votes.

As many as 2,57,673 voters were eligible to cast their votes for the bypoll. However, altogether 2,06, 216 valid votes were polled in the by-election, said sources in the office of Chief Electoral Officer, Odisha.

A total of 2,087 voters have cast their votes in favour of NOTA, they added.

Notably, Padampur went for a bypoll due to the death of sitting MLA Bijaya Ranjan Singh Bariha October 3. Bijaya Ranjan had been elected from Padampur on a BJD ticket in 2019. The BJD fielded Bijaya Ranjan’s elder daughter Barsha in the bypoll.