‘Deal’ With Congress Armed BJD For Big Win In Padampur Bypoll In Odisha, Alleges BJP

Bhubaneswar: After BJD’s spectacular victory in Padampur Assembly bypoll in Odisha, BJP on Saturday accused the Naveen Patnaik-led party of winning the by-election by striking a political deal with Congress.

Leader of Opposition and BJP stalwart Jayanarayan Mishra alleged that the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won the by-election to Padampur Assembly constituency in Bargarh district by a whopping margin because of a deal with Congress.

Mishra went on to claim that Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik physically visited Padampur and campaigned for party candidate Barsha Singh Bariha only after striking a deal with Congress.

Senior leaders of BJD or Congress were not immediately available to comment on the issue.

Claiming that a deal was finalised between BJD and Congress before Naveen’s visit to Padampur, Mishra alleged that only after being assured of diversion of Congress votes to his party the Chief Minister undertook the visit to the Assembly segment for electioneering.

According to information, it was a major political deal between the two parties which completely changed the outcome of the by-election held on December 5, he claimed.

Regarding role of money in the alleged deal, the senior BJP leader said he has no knowledge about this.

It may be noted here that BJD candidate Barsha Singh Bariha trounced former MLA Pradip Purohit of BJP by a margin of 42,679 votes in Padampur bypoll.

Barsha secured 1,20,672 votes, which is more than 50% of the total 2,09,309 votes cast in Padampur, while Purohit got 78,034. Veteran Congres leader and three-time MLA from the seat Satya Bhusan Sahu lost his deposit having secured 3,594 votes.

Although the Congress had finished third in the seat in both the 2014 and the 2019 polls, the party had still secured 31,179 and 32,787 votes respectively. BJP, however, managed to retain its 2019 vote share. This clearly indicates a shift in Congress votes to the ruling party.