BHUBANESWAR: As the BJP finished third behind Congress in the Komna Zilla Parishad polls in Nuapada district, senior party leader Bijay Mohapatra today demanded that the election result should be analysed and there should be introspection.
Mohapatra's statement comes two weeks after national president Amit Shah announced that BJP will win two thirds majority in the next assembly election in Odisha. Shah also set a target before party leaders in Odisha to win 120 out of 147 seats in the assembly in the 2019 polls.
However, result of the Komna ZP polls has come as a setback for the BJP as it is in the Nuapada, the home district of state BJP president Basant Panda. With BJD winning from the Komna ZP seat, BJP has been wiped out from the district.
Mohapatra said the ZP election result will have statewide impact and should be analysed. The result has, infact, come as a big letdown for the BJP which is positioning itself as the main rival of the ruling BJD for the next assembly election.
However, the state BJP dismissed Mohapatra's demand and asked him to mind his own business. "Mohapatra should mind his own business without advising the party what to do," state general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan told mediapersons.
BJD's candidate Ramnaresh Ahir trounced BJP candidate Phuleswar Sabar by a margin of 10,423 votes in the polls. While Ahir bagged 15,134 votes, Sabar managed to get only 4,711 votes and came a distant third. Congress candidate Bhakatram Sabar secured the second place by bagging 7,068 votes.