BJP on course to bag Nuapada assembly seat in Odisha

Nuapada, Nov 14 (PTI) BJP candidate Jay Dholakia was leading by over 50,000 votes as counting was underway for the Nuapada assembly bypoll in Odisha on Friday, according to the Election Commission.

After 16 rounds of counting, Dholakia secured 78,507 votes, while his nearest rival, Snehangini Chhuria of the BJD, managed 24,635 votes.

Congress candidate Ghasiram Majhi was in third spot with 24,251 votes. The difference between the BJD and the Congress candidates was only 384 votes.

Jay is the son of the late BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia, whose death necessitated the bypoll.

The bypoll holds political significance for the ruling BJP as it's the first electoral contest in the state since the party formed government in the state last year.

The bypoll was also a prestige fight for Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who visited Nuapada at least six times in the run-up to the election.

Similarly, the election is also being seen as a test of BJD president Naveen Patnaik's influence in state politics, who lost power last year after remaining the CM of the state for 24 years.

The bypoll recorded a voter turnout of 83.45 per cent, the highest among the eight by-elections held in the country.

There were 14 candidates in the fray in the Nuapada bypoll, the voting for which was held on November 11.

As Dholakia's margin increased, celebrations began at the BJP's state headquarters in Bhubaneswar.

BJP state president Manmoahn Samal thanked the people of Nuapada for choosing "development".

"Nuapada has several problems which could not be resolved by either the BJD or Congress. Therefore, people supported the BJP, which is committed to developing the area," he told reporters.

BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra, who was in charge of the bypoll for the party, expressed surprise over the margin and alleged that the election was manipulated.

"It is a huge margin, which proves gross manipulation of the election by the BJP, using the government machinery. Though we pointed out several irregularities, the EC observers who were supposed to remain neutral also became mute spectators," he alleged.

Congress candidate Majhi, who was the runner-up in the 2024 assembly polls in the seat, alleged that "money played a major role" in the by-election.

"Though my position was very good all along electioneering, the situation changed during the last few days due to the money factor. Money is not god, but nothing less than god," he said. AAM SOM