BJD wins zilla parishad byelection in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Friday won the Bijatala zilla parishad zone byelection in Mayurbhanj district by a margin of 4,212 votes while the BJP secured second position.
BJD candidate Raghunath Majhi secured 8,875 votes followed by BJP’s Kutulu Hansdah, who got 4,663 votes.
JMM candidate Mina Soren got 2768 votes, said an official statement.
The byelection was conducted after the seat fell vacant following death of Chhotray Marandi, who won the seat in February 2017.BJD was in third position during the previous panchayat poll with over 3,000 votes.
Addressing a news conference here at party office, BJD vice president and food supplies minister Surya Narayan Patro said the results of Bijatala byelection results proved that people have rejected the false propaganda of opposition parties and supported the BJD for its progressive policies.
BJD leader Arun Kumar Sahoo, party’s in-charge for Mayurbhanj district, said the BJD never won the Bijatala seat after independence. “The recent results proved that people accept BJD and leadership of Naveen Patnaik. It is also significant to note that BJD has not lost a single byelection after the 2017 panchayat elections,” said Sahoo.
BJP alleged massive rigging of votes in eight booths by BJD workers to win the zilla parishad zone.