Bhubaneswar: The BJP on Sunday halted the BJD juggernaut by emerging at the top with a lead of over 9,881 votes after the final round of counting of votes polled in Dhamnagar bypoll in Odisha’s Bhadrak district.
The regional party had set a record by winning all five by-elections – Pipili, Brajrajnagar, Balasore Sadar, Tirtol and Bijepur – till now since the 2019 twin polls.
BJP’s Suryabanshi Suraj has garnered 80,351 votes with his nearest rival and BJD candidate Abanti Das polling 70,470. The dissidence perhaps played a decisive role in this bypoll with Independent candidate and former MLA Rajendra Das wresting some votes from the ruling party’s kitty. He got 8,153 votes.
Congress, however, could manage to draw only 3,561 votes.
Dhamnagar is considered a BJP stronghold with the saffron party, having won twice from the seat in the recent past with Manmohan Samal in 2004 and Bishnu Charan Sethi in 2019. The party workers celebrated the third consecutive win by distributing sweets and bursting crackers.
The result, many felt was an indication of the changing political scenario in the state ahead of the 2024 elections.
