BHAWANIPATNA: Change is in the offing as far as politics in Kalahandi is concerned. The BJP State president Basant Panda is leading with a polling percentage of 35.15 against his nearest rival Puspendra Singh Deo of BJD who got 33.23 per cent (pc) votes by 9 pm on Thursday.
By the end of 13th round of counting, Panda had got 3,89,810 votes and Singh Deo 3,68,545 votes. The Congress candidate Bhakta Charan Das was in the third spot with 25.92 poll percentage.
As far as Assembly seats are concerned, BJD’s Dibya Shankar Mishra, Mahosodhi Bag, Pradip Dishari, Bhupinder Singh and Raju Dholkia were leading in Junagarh, Dharamgarh, Lanjigarh, Narla and Nuapada. However, Congress candidate Adhiraj Panigrahi is leading over his nearest BJD rival Lambodar Nial in Khariar Assembly segment and BJP candidate Pradipta Kumar Naik is continuing his lead from beginning of counting against his nearest BJD rival Dusmanta Kumar Naik in Bhawanipatna Assembly segment.
Except Khariar Assembly seat, Congress will face a debacle in all the other segments. Political observers said it will be a personal setback for heavyweight Bhakta and his son Sagar Charan Das who contested on Congress ticket from Bhawanipatna Assembly segment. Bhakta had won the constituency in 2009 but in 2014, he finished third in the electoral battle.
The BJD had won Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency in the last General Elections.