BARAGARH: Barsha Singh Bariha who won the Padampur bypoll by a record margin of 42,679 votes expressed her gratitude to the voters of the constituency. Speaking to the media, the newly elected BJD legislator said she owed her victory to the people of Padampur, party workers and leaders who campaigned for me day and night. “Like I had promised earlier, I will stay here to serve the people of Padampur. I will take up the work left incomplete by my father and voice the concerns of the people of Padampur before the state government,” she said.
On the ruling party’s return to winning ways after the defeat at Dhamnagar, Bhatli MLA and former minister Susanta Singh said the party's strategy worked well. Moreover, chief minister’s campaign helped the party reach out to people which led to this massive success. Singh said the party’s primary focus will be to address problems prevalent in rural areas of the sub-division. “Steps will also be taken to address problems relating to irrigation, healthcare and district status for Padampur as promised by the chief minister,” the former minister said.
Senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya said while Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik had fielded Barsha considering the sentiments of the people of Padampur, the voters of the constituency also extended their support in the form of their votes due to which this victory was possible. Barsha is an educated woman and is humble. She is genuinely concerned for the development of Padampur and because of her, the people could repose their faith in the party, he said.
“Inappropriate and derogatory comments were made on Barsha’s character and personal life which had directly or indirectly hurt people of Padampur. I believe this was one of the reasons which triggered the consciousness of the voters here," Acharya said.
May it be issue of the railway line or crop insurance, the intention with which the opposition tried to distort the issues before the voters was clearly visible to people of Padampur, which reflected in their votesm, the senior BJD leader said, adding this is the victory of the people of Padampur, who were not influenced by misleading and false propaganda of the opposition.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accepted BJP's defeat in the bypoll and conveyed his best wishes to Barsha for her victory. "We accept the result of the Padampur bypoll. My gratitude to all the voters who voted for our party. We respect the mandate of the people and will try to further strengthen the party in the coming days by expanding our welfare activities and public relations," he tweeted.
BJP state president Samir Mohanty said, “We congratulate Barsha Singh Bariha for winning the election through sympathy votes. I respect the decision made by the voters and am thankful to those numbered voters who expressed their trust on BJP through their votes. Even though the votes have come in favour of the ruling party but there is gross resentment among people of Padampur which will come to fore soon.”
Irrespective of the election outcome, development of Padampur should be the priority of both the parties, he added.