ANGUL: Though BJD retained Ward 10 of Angul Municipality in the by-poll held here on Wednesday, BJP sprang a surprise by bettering its show as compared to the previous election.BJD candidate Ajit Kumar Pradhan won the by-election by defeating nearest rival and BJP nominee Parthasarathi Ray. Congress contestant Anup Mishra came a distant third.
While BJD polled 476 votes, BJP secured 292. Congress managed to bag only 167 votes. In the last election, BJD had secured 546 votes while Congress got 264. BJP had stood third with only 31 votes.
Experts say the by-poll result is significant for the politically sensitive district. While BJP has polled more votes compared to the last time, vote share of both BJD and Congress has dropped.However, BJP and Congress blamed fake votes for the BJD win. BJP leader Pratap Pradhan alleged that blatant misuse of official machineries, money power and bogus votes in the Ward helped BJD win the by-poll.
Congress Municipality Chairman Akhaya Samant also attributed BJD’s win to false votes. Sympathy factor also worked in the ruling party’s favour as the by-poll was necessitated after the death of the sitting BJD councilor, he said.With the win, BJD’s strength in the 23-member Municipal Council increased to 10. Congress has 13 members in the council.
Local BJD MLA Rajani Kanta Singh attributed the victory to the rising popularity of Chief Minster Naveen Patnaik. He admitted that the by-poll result will boost BJP morale in the district and other areas while it also offers a scope to both BJD and Congress to introspect.