BHUBANESWAR: BJP candidate from Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency Aparajita Sarangi retained her seat by defeating her nearest rival Manmath Routray of BJD by a comfortable margin of over 35,000 votes.
In the initial rounds, a tough fight was witnessed as Routray, a political greenhorn, secured more votes than Sarangi in Jatni and Jayadev Assembly segments.
The BJP leader, however, marched ahead comfortably by polling more votes in the three Assembly segments of Bhubaneswar North, Bhubaneswar Central and Bhubaneswar Ekamra besides Khurda and Begunia. Yasir Nawaz of Congress came a distant third by securing around 66,300 votes.
After her victory, Sarangi thanked people of her constituency for their showering their love and support on the BJP for the second time in a row. The BJP MP said she will continue to work for the development of the Parliamentary seat including Bhubanewar city.
The saffron party also emerged victorious in two of the seven Assembly seats coming under Bhubaneswar Parliamentary constituency. In a performance considered to be the BJP’s best so far in the capital region, saffron party candidates dethroned veteran BJD leader and Minister Ashok Chandra Panda from Ekamra Bhubaneswar Assembly seat and sitting MLA Rajendra Kumar Sahoo from Khurda segment.
Panda, a three-time MLA, lost to BJP’s Babu Singh by a margin of around 5,000 votes. Similarly, the saffron party’s Prasanta Jagadev defeated Sahoo of BJD by a margin of over 8,500 votes.
It was a close call for the BJP in Bhubaneswar Central Assembly seat where its candidate Jagannath Pradhan lost to BJD’s Ananta Narayan Jena by only 37 votes.
On the other hand, the BJD despite facing tough competition managed to emerge victorious in the four other Assembly seats of Bhubaneswar North, Jatni, Jayadev and Begunia.
The ruling party candidate Susanta Rout retained Bhubaneswar North while Bibhuti Balabantray secured a win in Jatni seat.
Similarly, BJD’s Pradip Kumar Sahu won from Begunia and party nominee Nabakishore Mallik bagged Jayadev Assembly segment.