Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal's Rita Sahu won the Bijepur assembly bypoll on Wednesday with a margin of close to 42,000 votes over the nearest candidate from BJP.
After 21 rounds of counting, Sahu polled 1,02,871 votes while BJP's Ashok Panigrahy was a distant second at 60,938 votes. Congress candidate Pranay Sahu was relegated to an also ran and secured 10,274 votes.
Hailing his party candidate’s victory, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the outcome of the polls would have an impact on the general elections in 2019.
Sahu won the by-election by defeating her nearest BJP rival Ashok Panigrahi by a margin of 41,933 votes, an EC official said.
"Such an enormous victory with a margin of over 40,000 votes will have an impact on future elections," Patnaik told reporters while thanking the people of Bijepur for their overwhelming support to the ruling BJD's candidate.
While hailing the party's impressive show, Patnaik, also the party chief, said the people of Bijepur have rejected violence.
"Odisha is a peaceful state; the people will not stand for violence in a democracy," he added.
"I would like to express my deep gratitude to the people of Bijepur Assembly constituency for having showered their blessings on the BJD," Patnaik said.
Meanwhile, Rita Sahu said, "I'll work for the all-round development of the people in our area and strive hard to fulfil my husband's dream."
Rita Sahu was fielded as a BJD candidate in the by-polls after her husband Subal Sahu died in August, 2017.
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