[Watch] Newly-Elected Jharsuguda MLA Deepali Das Arrives In Odisha Capital

Bhubaneswar: A day after her big win in Jharsuguda by-election, newly-elected MLA Deepali Das arrived in Odisha capital on Sunday to meet BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Speaking to media, Deepali attributed her resounding victory to the party supremo, development agenda of the BJD-led government and love and affection of the people for her father Naba Kishore Das, whose sensational murder by an ASI of police on January 29 necessitated the bypoll. “I am here to seek blessings of the CM and senior party leaders, who contributed to my win,” she said.

She is likely to meet the BJD supremo later this evening.

Terming Naveen as a father figure, Deepali said she will work earnestly to complete all developmental works her father had initiated, including heart and cancer hospitals and overbridge project.

Deepali trounced her nearest rival Tankadhar Tripathy of the BJP by a huge margin of 48,721 votes. She secured a total of 1,07,198 votes, while Tripathy bagged 58,477 votes. Congress candidate Tarun Pandey came third with 4,496 votes.

While BJP managed to improve its vote share by polling 33.24 per cent, BJD juggernaut touched 60.93 per cent. The vote share of Congress, on the other hand, dropped to a meagre 2.56 per cent.

Deepali will be the youngest member of the state Assembly now.

Notably, Naveen himself was present at the celebration in party office ‘Sankha Nivas’ in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. He promised to continue the efforts for the development of Jharsuguda with renewed vigour.

Naba Kishore Das had won the seat by a margin of 45,740 votes in the 2019 general elections.