BHUBANESWAR: BJP leader and leader of Opposition in Odisha Legislative Assembly Jaynarayan Mishra on Friday said the party will review the result of the Padampur bypoll to ascertain the reasons of its candidate’s defeat. Talking to mediapersons here, Mishra said BJP got more votes in the constituency in this bypoll than in the 2019 Assembly election but the margin of defeat has increased. Stating there are several factors responsible for the party candidate’s defeat, Mishra said money played a vital role in BJD’s win.
Mishra targeted Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for trying to showcase BJP as an anti-women’s party. Stating that nobody had indulged in character assassination of BJD candidate Barsha Singh Bariha, Mishra said it was pointed out that she was born at Padampur and married at Satyabadi. “What is wrong in that,” he asked. “We accept the result of the Padmapur by-election. In a democracy, public opinion is paramount. But I condemn the way the chief minister made a political statement through a video message,” he said.
Mishra asked if BJP was an anti-women’s party, then Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not have been able to establish himself as the ‘Pradhan Sevak’ of the country. How can a party which won the Dhamnagar bypoll and polled over 78,000 votes in Padampur be described as anti-women, he asked. Besides chief minister’s video message, the BJD had also moved the chief electoral officer and the State Commission of Women accusing Jayanarayan of making derogatory remarks against the ruling party’s candidate Barsha Singh Bariha. Former Union Minister Jual Oram had also questioned Barsha’s marriage in a non-tribal community.