Bhubaneswar: The Dholakia family retained the seat in the by-election to Nuapada in Odisha but BJD lost, relegated to the third position within a span of 17 months.
The bypoll, the first electoral test after the 2024 debacle, was a battle of prestige and legacy for the BJD president Naveen Patnaik. While the untimely demise of Rajendra Dholakia, who won the seat for the party since 2009, except 2014, shook its long-standing stronghold, the situation worsened when his son Jay chose to join the BJP.
Once known for his master strokes, Naveen decided to field Snehangini Chhuria, a “strong leader from western Odisha” who had held important portfolios in his government. But the gamble did not pay off.
BJP candidate Jay Dholakia won the seat by a huge margin of 83,748 votes. He secured 1,23,869 votes, while his nearest rival, Congress candidate Ghasiram Majhi, managed 40,121 votes. Snehangini Chhuria of the BJD secured 38,408 votes.
While conceding defeat, the BJD supremo congratulated the BJP candidate on the victory. “…and I sincerely hope he will honour this mandate by bringing meaningful development to Nuapada,” he wrote on X.
Naveen also expressed gratitude to his party leaders and workers, “who stood united, worked tirelessly, and gave their all for the BJD in the Nuapada by-election.”
Stating that winning and losing are part of any election, he stressed that values and respect for people’s faith should always remain. “It’s the responsibility of our institutions to uphold our democratic right of free and fair elections. BJD has lived through many highs and lows, yet our resolve to fight for the people has remained unbreakable, and it will continue to remain so,” he said.
The BJD had earlier accused the BJP of violating the model code of conduct on the polling day with workers of the party entering several polling booths and pressurising voters to cast their franchise in favour of their candidate Jay Dholakia.
“Our party is inspired by Biju Babu, the fighter. Our fight for the rights of people of Odisha will continue. I once again thank the Nuapada people who voted for BJD and the party workers who worked very hard for this by-election,” he added.
Earlier, BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra, who was in charge of the bypoll for the party, had expressed surprise over the victory margin. “The huge margin indicates blatant election manipulation by the BJP, leveraging state machinery. Though we pointed out several irregularities, the EC observers, who were expected to be impartial, remained mute spectators,” he alleged.
