BJD Candidate Barsha Singh Bariha Wins Padampur By-Poll

Padmapur: 8/12/22:The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) registered a thumping victory in the very crucial by-poll to the Padampur Assembly Constituency. BJD candidate Barsha Singh Bariha defeated BJP candidate Pradeep Purohit by 42,679  votes. While the campaigning for the by-election was held rigorously by the parties, the result came out completely different.

BJD candidate Barsha Singh Bariha got 1,20,807 votes while BJP candidate Pradeep Purohit got 78,128 votes. Meanwhile, Congress candidate Satya Bhushan Sahu got only 3,594 votes. It is pertinent to mention here that Barsha Singh Bariha has received record margin votes to defeat her BJP opponent.

BJD Supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to Barsa Singh Bariha over the telephone and congratulated her for this spectacular win in Padampur by-poll.

This is the highest-ever margin that a candidate has won in Padampur Assembly Constituency. Earlier in 1990, Barsha Singh Bariha’s father Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha had defeated Satya Bhushan Sahu with a margin of 30,410 votes. However, Barsha has broken her father’s record this time.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s appearance in the campaign proved beneficial for BJD to win by a such huge margin. BJP has been fighting hard in the campaign but has been left behind by a big margin in the results. Congress candidate Satya Bhushan Sahu received no favour from the Padmapur voters.

The counting of votes in Padmapur started at 8 am on Thursday. BJD was ahead of BJP from the first round of counting itself. In every round of countings, BJD candidate Barsha Singh Bariha marched ahead of BJP candidate Pradeep Purohit.

It should be noted that after the victory in the Dhamnagar bypoll, the BJP fought strongly for the Padmapur by-poll. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Narendra Singh Tomar, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Bishweshwar Tudu were leading the campaigns. Even Dharmendra Pradhan was widely campaigning till the last day but the result came as a shock for the BJP.

There were a total of 10 candidates contesting for the bypoll to Padmapur Assembly Constituency. BJD’s Barsha Singh Bariha and BJP’s Pradeep Purohit, former MLA Satya Bhushan Sahu from Congress, Bidyadhar Pandav from Akhil Bharat Hindu MahaSabha, Mukteshwar Das from Odisha Janata Party and 5 other independent candidates.

Barsha is the daughter of the late MLA Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha. In the 2019 election, Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha got 83,299 votes while Pradeep Purohit got 77, 565 votes and Congress candidate Satya Bhushan Sahu got 3,787 votes.