Puri: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has increased its lead further after the eighth-round counting of votes for the bypoll to the Pipili Assembly constituency.
According to the official report, the ruling party candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathy was ahead of his nearest rival and BJP candidate Ashrit Pattanayak by 8,856 votes after Round-8.
While Rudra received 31,457 votes, Pattanayak polled 22601 votes. Congress’ Bishwokeshan Harichandan Mohapatra got 2,122 votes.
Also Read: Pipili Bypoll: BJD Extends Lead Margin After Round Six
Rudra was leading by 7,630 votes at the end of the seventh-round counting. The vote share: BJD: 27517 votes (54.40%) and BJP: 19887 (39.32%).
In 2019 polls, BJD had a vote share of 50.66% followed by BJP (41.62%) and Congress (5.63%).
The final results will be announced after the 25th round counting.
