Odisha Panchayat Polls: Woman Sarpanch Candidate Loses By Single Digit Margin To Relative, Demands Recounting

Keonjhar: A woman sarpanch candidate in the district has demanded recounting of votes after she lost in the panchayat elections by what could be termed as lowest margin of votes.

The candidate, Basanti Naik contested for the sarpanch post of Bhadrasahi panchayat under Joda block in the recently concluded elections. Total 7 contestants were in the contest for the post this time. One of them is Basanti’s sister-in-law Pramila Naik.

During the counting of votes, Basanti and Pramila surged ahead of others from the initial rounds. As the counting progressed, the two women relatives were in a neck-to-neck contest.

However, at the end of counting, Pramila was declared winner in the election to sarpanch post. She defeated Basanti by mere 5 votes. While Pramila polled 1065 votes, Basanti bagged 1060 votes.

Following the announcement of the winner and the margin of votes, Basanti alleged foul play in the vote counting and went to filed a complaint with the block election officer and Joda BDO.