BARGARH/BHUBANESWAR: Padampur bypoll witnessed a record turnout of 80.05 per cent on Monday, leaving political parties guessing about such behaviour of the voters.Official sources said the polling percentage will increase by the time the figures are finalised even as the main rivals BJD and BJP claimed that such a high turnout will go in their favour.
The ruling BJD stated that the party’s mobilisation of voters has succeeded with the record turnout, while the BJP sources maintained that high polling was spontaneous and result of anti-incumbency votes. However, a sense of uncertainty among the parties was very much evident.
High voters’ turnout, though, is nothing new for Padampur Assembly constituency as in the last three elections more than 75 per cent polling was recorded. In the 2019 Assembly election which recorded 79.16 per cent turn out, BJD’s Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha, father of the ruling party candidate, Barsha Singh Bariha had defeated BJP’s Pradip Purohit by a margin of over 5,700 votes.
In the 2014 elections, voter turnout was 79.16 percent. But in this election, Purohit had defeated his rival Bariha of the BJD by a margin of over 4,500 votes. In the 2009 election too, the constituency witnessed polling of 75.5 per cent. The seat was won by Bariha. But this time the nearest candidate was Satya Bhusan Sahu of the Congress. Purohit, the BJP candidate, had finished third behind Congress.
Despite the pre-election heat during the campaigning period, polling was by and large peaceful. There was no report of booth capturing and rigging. “There was no report of any untoward incident in the entire Padampur Assembly constituency during the voting process,” chief electoral officer SK Lohani told mediapersons here. Counting of votes will be held on December 8.