BERHAMPUR: Like both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, BJD also grabbed the Mayor post of Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) with its candidate Sanghamitra Dalei winning the seat with a huge margin.
According to the official reports, Sanghamitra has been elected as the second woman Mayor of BeMC by defeating her BJP rival Sabita Suar with a margin of 20,236 votes. While a total 79,719 votes went to the BJD, BJP got 56,322, AAP got 7,453 and Congress 6,768 votes.There were seven contenders for the Mayor post here.
The elections to the Mayor post of BeMC were direct this time and the post was reserved for a woman candidate. The BJD decided to field Sanghamitra - the president of Ganjam BJD Mahila wing - for the post. Previously, Sanghamitra had won as councillor thrice and once as corporator after the municipality became a corporation. In 2008, BeMC was accorded corporation status and it then had 40 wards. In the ULB elections the same year, BJD candidate Siba Sankar Das was elected as Mayor. Five years later, the ruling party again won the post with its candidate K Madhavi becoming the first woman Mayor of the civic body. In 2013, BJD had bagged 24 corporator posts, Congress won 15 and independent one but BJP had failed to open its account.
Later, Congress leaders Chandra Sekhar Sahu and Bikram Panda quit the grand old party and joined BJD. They brought along several Congress corporators to the BJD fold. After completion of the council term in 2018, Ganjam Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange led the civic body as its administrator.
In the 2022 ULB elections, the number of wards was increased to 42 and BJD increased its corporators to 30. The saffron party won seven corporator seats, Congress one and independents four. Sanghamitra thanked the people of the city for voting her and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for reposing faith in her.
The BJD also fared well in 17 ULBs in Ganjam including Hinjili. But it lost the chairperson post to BJP in Chatrapur, Rambha and Kodola NACs. The Congress won the chairperson post in Digapahandi NAC and two independents won in Ganjam and Purusottampur NACs.
Sanghamitra Dalei
Sanghamitra Dalei said Berhampur is on the list of priorities of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. “My plan of action for the next five years will be improving the city’s roads, sanitation, drains, healthcare and overall beautification. There are several issues that Berhampur faces right now and we will take up each of them gradually. I hope that people irrespective of their political affiliation will lend a helping hand to us in achieving our goals. I and my team will take the Silk City to new heights by ensuring its all-around development,” she said. In her long political career, she has held different posts in both Congress and BJD. Dalei who entered politics in 2003, had constested for councillor post from Ward 18 of Berhampur Municipality with Congress ticket and won. However, in 2008 she fought the municipality election as independent when Congress denied her ticket. She joined the ruling party in 2013.