Patkura: The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Wednesday won the Patkura Assembly constituency in Kendrapara district defeating BJP, the main opposition force in Odisha.
The victory in Patkura took BJD’s tally in the 147-member Odisha Assembly to 113.
BJD candidate Sabitri Agarwal defeated BJP’s Bijoy Mohapatra, the principal bête noire of Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik by 17,920 votes.
While Agarwalla bagged 96,017 votes, Mohapatra was polled 78,097 votes, thereby bringing to an end to the two-decade-long attempt of Mohapatra, of becoming an MLA. Mohapatra, who won from Patkura four times – 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1995 – is unsuccessfully trying to enter the Assembly since 2000.
Jayanta Kumar Mohanty of the Congress secured a mere 2,104 votes.
Around 72.69 per cent of the total 2,44,747 voters had exercised their franchise in the polling for the politically-important Patkura Assembly seat, which was held on July 20 after being postponed twice.
The poll to the seat was earlier scheduled to be held in the fourth phase of last phase general elections in the State on April 29. However, the election was postponed following the death of BJD candidate Bed Prakash Agarwalla on April 20.
Later, the Election Commission too postponed the election in view of cyclone Fani that hit the State on May 3.
Following the death of Bed Prakash, the BJD fielded his widow Sabitri Agarwalla as its candidate for the Patkura Assembly segment under Kendrapara Parliamentary constituency.
