BJD retains Kandhamal LS seat

BJD candidate Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh won the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat by a massive margin which was bigger than the one her late husband Hemendra Chandra Singh had won by, whose untimely death last month had necessitated the bypoll.

The Nepal-born Singh defeated her nearest rival, former Kandhamal MP and BJP candidate Rudramadhab Ray, by more than 2,98,000 votes. Pratyusha got 4,77,529 votes (around 61 per cent) while Ray managed to get 1,78,661. Abhimanyu Behera of the Congress came third with just 90,536 votes, almost 1.5 lakh votes less than the votes secured by Congress candidate Harihar Karan in the May 2014 general election. BJD leaders celebrated Singh’s victory by bursting crackers and distributing sweets in Phulbani town and Bhubaneswar.

“I would like to thank the people of Kandhamal Lok Sabha constituency for having bestowed the blessings so generously on the BJD. This shows the support of people of Orissa for the plans and policies of the BJD government,” said CM Naveen Patnaik.

Opposition BJP claimed the BJD won by “misusing the administrative machinery”. A BJP panel led by party leader Bijay Mohapatra complained to the EC that the District Collector had asked BDOs to disburse old-age pension just five days before the polling. For the BJD, the increased victory margin was significant despite just about 45 per cent of polling. Though the BJP was trounced, there was a silver lining for the party as the Congress was relegated to third place.