SAMBALPUR: The defeat of BJD Sambalpur Lok Sabha candidate Rohit Pujari has come as a surprise to many. He lost to Amarnath Pradhan of the Congress by a margin of 8,931 votes. The election was seen as a cakewalk for Pujari as he had been working in the Lok Sabha segment for the last four years.
Amarnath’s win is being seen as an anti-establishment sentiment of people of Sambalpur district as Pujari lost in three Assembly constituencies. While Amarnath polled 2,98,839 votes, Rohit secured 2,89,908 votes and Surendra Lath of the BJP got 1,59,839 votes.
Out of the seven Assembly constituencies, Rohit led in Athamallik, Chendipada, Rairakhol and Deogarh while he lost the race in Sambalpur, Rengali and Kuchinda. In Athamallik, Rohit led by 16,122 votes followed by Deogarh where he polled 13,206 votes. Similarly, he remained ahead in Rairakhol by 10,648 votes and by 5,100 votes in Chendipada. But in his hometown of Sambalpur, he was relegated to the third spot.
Pollsters said lack of strong BJD network in Sambalpur came as a setback for Rohit. They added that change of party could also have reflected in Rohit’s winning prospects as people have always associated him with Congress.