Jay Dholakia takes oath as Nuapada MLA

Bhubaneswar: The BJP leader, Jay Dholakia, on Thursday took oath as a member of Odisha Legislative Assembly, increasing the ruling saffron party’s strength to 79 in the 147-member House. Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy administered the oath of office to Jay in the presence of senior leaders. His mother, Kalpana Dholakia, and other family members were also present.

Jay’s swearing-in ceremony coincided with the birthday of his late father and BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia, whose demise on September 8 necessitated the by-poll in Nuapada. Jay defeated Congress candidate Ghasiram Majhi by a huge margin of 83,748 votes in the November 11 by-poll.

The BJD nominee, Snehangini Chhuria, finished third, the results of which were declared on November 14.

With Jay’s induction, the BJP’s tally in the Assembly has risen to 79, while the BJD’s count has come down to 50. The Congress has 14 MLAs, three are Independents, and one belongs to the CPI(M).

Winning the Nuapada by-poll is seen as an endorsement of the 17-month-old government headed by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi. Jay’s victory has also reestablished the Dholakia family’s legacy in Nuapada.

His father Rajendra Dholakia was elected to the Assembly four times in 2004, 2009, 2019 and 2024. Though Rajendra won the first election in 2004 as an Independent candidate, he was elected three times on a BJD ticket.

However, Jay had switched over to the BJP ahead of the by-poll.

After taking the oath, Jay said, “I thank Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and the Speaker for allowing me to take the oath on my father’s birth anniversary today, which is a memorable day for me.

I have taken a pledge to work for the development of Nuapada district, and I thank Chief Minister Majhi on behalf of the people of Nuapada for taking responsibility for the district. The victory we secured on November 14 does not belong to me alone, but to the people of Nuapada, my father Rajendra Dholakia, and all the BJP workers at the district, State and national levels.”

Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal expressed confidence that Jay will work for the development of Nuapada as he promised during the by-poll.