BJP’s Jay wins Nuapada by-poll by a huge margin

Nuapada: The BJP candidate, Jay Dholakia, won the Nuapada Assembly by-poll by 83,748 votes on Friday, election officials said. The Congress bagged the second spot, while the State’s main Opposition, BJD, was relegated to the third position.

Jay secured 1,23,869 votes, while his nearest rival, Congress candidate Ghasiram Majhi, managed 40,121 votes. Snehangini Chhuria of the BJD secured 38,408 votes. The Election Commission is, however, yet to update the results on its website. Jay is the son of the late BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia, whose death necessitated the by-poll.

The result of the by-poll, which was the first electoral contest held in the State after last year’s Assembly election, will be a major boost for the BJP. It was also seen as a prestige battle for Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who visited Nuapada at least six times in the run-up to the election.

The Congress, securing the second spot in this election, is a significant factor for the party as it looks to replace the BJD as the main Opposition in the State. For the BJD, which lost power in last year’s Assembly elections, the defeat will further hurt its morale. The by-poll recorded a voter turnout of 83.45 per cent, the highest among the eight by-elections held in the country.

There were 14 candidates in the fray in the by-poll, the voting for which was held on November 11. The BJP State president, Manmohan Samal, thanked the people of Nuapada for choosing “development”. “Nuapada has several problems which could not be resolved by either the BJD or Congress. Therefore, people supported the BJP, which is committed to developing the area,” he told reporters.

The BJD vice-president, Debi Prasad Mishra, who was in charge of the by-poll for the party, expressed surprise over the margin and alleged that the election was manipulated.

“It is a huge margin, which proves gross manipulation of the election by the BJP, using the government machinery. Though we pointed out several irregularities, the Election Commission observers, who were supposed to remain neutral, also became mute spectators,” he alleged.

The Congress candidate, Ghasiram Majhi, who was the runner-up in the 2024 Assembly polls in the seat, alleged that “money played a major role” in the by-election.

“Though my position was very good all along electioneering, the situation changed during the last few days due to the money factor. Money is not god, but nothing less than god,” he said.