BJD's Dipali Das, daughter of slain minister Naba Das wins Jharsuguda bypolls

Ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate Dipali Das trounced the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Tankadhar Tripathy to win Jharsuguda assembly seat by a huge margin of 48,619 votes. The results of the Jharsuguda bypoll were announced on Saturday (May 13).

Dipali Das, daughter of former Odisha health minister Naba Das, who was killed, secured a total of 1,07,003 votes, while BJP’s Tankadhar Tripathy managed to get 58,384 votes. Congress candidate Tarun Pandey got 4473 votes.

The Jharsuguda bypoll was held because of the murder of Naba Das by a police personnel in January 2023. From round 1 of the counting, BJD’s Dipali Das continued to maintain a steady lead.

Also read: Odisha: BJD surging ahead in Jharsuguda assembly bypoll

“It is due to the love and blessings of the people that I have been able to win the election with a huge margin. I will meet CM Naveen Patnaik soon. I will fulfill the commitment made to the people. I will also fulfill the dreams of my late father Naba Das,” said Dipali Das.

Senior BJD leader, Prasanna Acharya said the results were expected as the voters had already decided to bless the BJD candidate Dipali Das. The credit goes to the voters of Jharsuguda for their matured decision and the efforts of our workers, he said.

Acharya said that the party supremo Naveen Patnaik is ‘no doubt a popular leader and everybody works as per his instruction and direction’. This seems to the mantra of BJD’s success here, he said.