Bhubaneswar: A day after posting a landslide victory in Nuapada Assembly by-election, Jay Dholakia was accorded a grand welcome at the state BJP headquarters in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
He was greeted by senior BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and state BJP president Manmohan Samal at a grand felicitation ceremony.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said newly elected MLA will act as the ‘charioteer of development’ in Nuapada district.
Describing Jay’s victory in Nuapada bypoll as a turning point for the district’s development, Majhi recalled the contribution of late Rajendra Dholakia, Jay’s father, a four-time MLA and former Minister.
Despite Rajendra Dholakia’s sacrifices, BJD leaders failed to stand by the late MLA during his illness and did not even allow him to meet former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister said.
Seeking to know if switching parties amounts to treachery, Majhi said BJD has offered election tickets to several BJP leaders in the past. He sought to know as to how choosing Rajendra Dholakia’s son as BJP’s by-election candidate can be termed treachery. “The people of Nuapada have given a befitting reply to Naveen Patnaik’s remark branding Jay Dholakia as a traitor,” he said.
Reaffirming his resolve to ensure Nuapada’s development after Rajendra Dholakia’s demise, the CM said he had inaugurated projects worth Rs 1,101 crore and dedicated them to the people of Nuapada recently. “The people of Nuapada were neglected for 24 years. Now that there has been a change in the government, there will be development of this region,” he said.
Addressing the Vijay Utsav, Manmohan Samal lauded workers and voters for scripting history in Nuapada, while Jay Dholakia dedicated his sweeping win to the people.
Dholakia thanked the voters of Nuapada and the state leadership for their support. “This victory is not mine alone. It belongs to the people of Nuapada,” he said.
Taking a dig at Biju Janata Dal (BJD), he said those who had ‘disrespected’ the legacy of his late father had “faced the people’s response.”
Dholakia won the Nuapada bypoll with a massive margin of 83,748 votes, reclaiming a constituency once represented by his late father. He secured 1,23,869 votes, surpassing Rajendra Dholakia’s 2024 winning tally by over 62,000 votes.
The BJD, which held the seat in 2024, slipped to third place. Its candidate Snehangini Chhuria received 38,408 votes, while Congress candidate Ghasiram Majhi finished second with 40,121 votes.
Fourteen candidates contested the bypoll, including nine Independents. The election on November 11 saw an impressive 83.45% voter turnout, according to the Election Commission of India.