Cong maintains lead in MP bypolls, massive victory for BJD in Odisha bypoll

Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate Rita Sahu registered a thumping victory in the Bijepur assembly bypoll in Odisha by defeating BJP's Ashok Panigrahi by a margin of 41,933 votes on Wednesday.

While Sahu secured 102,871 votes, Bharatiya Janata Party's Panigrahi got 60,938 votes. Congress candidate Pranaya Sahu was a distant third with 10,274, said Returning Officer Tapiram Majhi.

The BJD won a staggering 56 per cent of the polled votes, while the BJP won 33.53 per cent and the Congress a mere 5.65 per cent, said Majhi.

The Bijepur result assumes significance, particularly for the BJD, BJP and the Congress as it is seen as a precursor to the 2019 general elections.

The results proved that the popularity of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik remains intact despite an aggressive campaign by the BJP, which failed to capitalise on its advantages from the panchayat polls.

The BJP had swept the Zilla Parishad polls in Bargarh district in 2017.

On the other hand, the Congress party, which won the assembly seat the last three times, was completely decimated in the by-election.

BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Patnaik said a victory by more than 40,000 votes will have an impact on future elections.

BJP legislature party leader K.V. Singdeo conceded defeat.

"We need to do our introspection over the defeat in the Bijepur bypoll and move forward," said Singhdeo.

The by-election was held on February 24 in which around 82 per cent of the voters had exercised their franchise. It was necessitated following the death of Congress MLA Subal Sahu in August 2017.

Panigrahi had won the Bijepur seat in 2000.

Though as many as 13 candidates were in the fray for the assembly seat, the high voltage fight was primarily seen as a triangular contest between the ruling BJD, BJP and Congress.

Bhopal: Congress candidates maintained leads in both the Assembly seats of Madhya Pradesh where by- elections were held last week, an official said.

In Kolaras constituency, Congress candidate Mahendra Singh Yadav maintained his lead, established in the first round. He was ahead by 3,425 votes after the end of the tenth round of counting, an election official said.

In Mungaoli, Congress' Brijendra Singh Yadav was leading over his rival BJP candidate by 5,244 votes after the completion of 11th round of counting.

A total of 23 rounds of counting will take place in Kolaras while in Mungaoli, the fate of the contestants would be finally known after 19 rounds, the official said.

The postal ballots were counted first, he said.

The outcome of the two by-polls, held on February 24, are being seen as a possible pointer to the mood of people ahead of the Assembly elections due later this year in the BJP-ruled state.

The by-polls were necessitated due to the death of Congress MLAs Mahendra Singh Kalukheda (Mungaoli in Ashoknagar district) and Ram Singh Yadav (Kolaras in Shivpuri district).

A total of 13 candidates are in the fray in Mungaoli while 22 candidates are contesting in Kolaras.

The BJP has fielded Baisahab Yadav from Mungaoli and Devendra Jain from Kolaras.