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.