BARGARH: People of Bargarh district voted for Congress in three out of the five Assembly constituencies.
The three time BJD Bargarh MLA Ananda Acharya was defeated by 2971 votes to Congress candidate Sadhu Charan Nepak.
While Acharya polled 44,786 votes, Nepak got 47,757 votes despite the fact that Bargarh District Congress candidate Sureshswar Satpathy deserted the party at the last moment and contested as BJP candidate to secure 11,592 votes.
It was believed that Satpathy would split the Congress vote bank after the Congress was in disarray after his departure.
Similarly in Bijepur, Subal Sahu of Congress defeated his nearest rival Prabhaditya Mishra of the BJD by 8,969 votes.
Sahu bagged 56,862 against 47,893 votes secured by Mishra. Sitting MLA Rafiq Ahmed was placed third securing 20,453 votes.
Likewise in the newly-carved Attabira AC, Nihar Mahanand of Congress defeated Snehagini Churia of BJD by 13,280 votes.
While Mahanand secured 49,420 votes, Churia got 36,140 votes and BJP nominee Milan Seth of BJP got 16,554.
However, the trend was different in Bhatli AC where political green horn and youth BJD leader Sushanta Singh defeated Congress heavy weight Prakash Chandra Debata by 4,771 votes.
Former minister Bimbadhar Kunar of BJP was pushed to the third position securing 17,075 votes. While Singh polled 60,502 votes, Debata garnered 55,731 votes.
Since both Singh and Debata belong to Congress stronghold of Sohela block, the split in votes proved dear for Debata.
Besides Bhatli Assembly constituency, the BJD also bagged Padampur Assembly constituency with Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha of BJD defeating deputy chief whip of Congress Satya Bhusan Sahu by a margin of 18,027 votes.
While Bariha polled 67,858 votes, Sahu could get 49,831 votes and Pradip Purohit of BJP secured 39,440.