Bargarh: As the ruling BJD retained Padampur Assembly seat by a huge margin, party nominee Barsha Singh Bariha said she would focus on women’s empowerment and carry forward the development work initiated under the Naveen Patnaik regime.
“I will strive hard to fulfil the aspirations of the people of the constituency. My father had always stressed education and had built Padampur Women’s College. There was a plan to construct another college, which was stalled. I will try to address all local issues while focussing on education,” she said.
Barsha trounced former MLA Pradip Purohit of BJP by a margin of 42,679 votes. She 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.
Barsha is the elder daughter of Bijaya Ranjan Singh Bariha, whose demise necessitated the bypoll.
