CUTTACK: Much to BJD’s surprise, the wave of support for Modi-led BJP has drowned Naveen magic this time in Cuttack so much so that the latter’s party failed to win even the seats it had retained in the 2019 elections.
Contrary to the last elections, the saffron party has this time won from the Cuttack Sadar and Niali Assembly segments. Besides, the party’s Cuttack MP candidate Bhartruhari Mahtab has defeated his BJD counterpart Santrupt Misra by a margin of over 30,000 votes. With this, Mahtab has won the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat for a record seventh consecutive term.
Speaking about his resounding victory, Mahtab said it was all because of the inspiring leadership of Narendra Modi that made the difference. “Different welfare programmes of Modi government has made it easy for party candidates to emerge victorious,” he said.
In Cuttack Sadar Assembly segment, BJP candidate Prakash Sethi defeated BJD candidate Chandra Sarathi Behera by a margin of 3,744 votes. In Niali Assembly seat, saffron party candidate Chhabi Mallick has won by 1,386 votes from BJD’s Pramod Mallick. Meanwhile, Independent candidates Bijay Dalabehera and Sarada Pradhan who were contesting from Badamba and Mahanga Assembly segments respectively, have scripted history by winning from the seats. While Dalabehera defeated BJD’s veteran, six-time MLA and former minister Debi Prasad Mishra by a margin of 23,167 votes, Pradhan won the election defeating senior BJD leader and former minister Pratap Jena’s son Ankit Pratap Jena by a margin of 7,564 votes.
In Banki Assembly segment, BJD’s Devi Ranjan Tripathy defeated his nearest rival Tushar Kant Chakarbarti of BJP by a margin of 17,026 votes. Similarly, in Choudwar-Cuttack Assembly segment, BJD’s Souvik Biswal defeated BJP candidate Nayan Kishore Mohanty by a margin of 17,750 votes. Congress, meanwhile, managed to retain the prestigious Barabati-Cuttack Assembly seat where the party’s candidate Sofia Firdous defeated her nearest rival Dr Purna Chandra Mohapatra of BJP by a margin of 7,974 votes.
In Salipur Assembly segment, BJD’s Prasanta Behera has defeated his BJP counterpart Arindam Roy by 7,611 votes. Likewise, BJD minister Ranendra Pratap Swain won from Athagarh Assembly segment defeating BJP’s Abhay Barik by a margin of 3,584 votes.