Cong concedes defeat in Balasore, pins hope on future

Bhubaneswar: Day after the bypolls in the two assembly constituencies, which witnessed around 70% polling, the Congress conceded defeat in Balasore even as both the BJD and BJP claimed the results will go in their favour.
Senior Congress leader Taraprasad Bahinipati, who was the party’s observer in the constituency, said though the party will not win in Balasore, it will get substantial vote.
“The Congress’ position in Balasore assembly segment is not very good. Our party has not won the seat since 1985. During the bypoll, there was a general consensus that our candidate (Mamata Kundu) was best among all and has worked very hard. We may not win this time but Congress will surely win the seat in the next assembly poll,” Bahinipati hoped.
Alleging that the BJD and the BJP spent huge sums of money in Balasore, Bahinipati said Congress’ spending was very less compared to them.
On the party’s prospects in Tirtol, Bahinipati said there will be good fight in the constituency.
BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra, who was one of the coordinator of the party in Balasore, said the pattern of voting and mood of voters indicate the BJD will win both the seats.
“Our victory margin in Balasore will be more than our defeat margin in the 2019 assembly election. We will win by a handsome margin in Tirtol as well, according to our internal assessment,” Mishra said.
Refuting allegations of using black money or government machinery in the bypoll, Mishra said the party’s spending was in accordance with the permissible limit set by the Election Commission of India.
BJP general secretary Prithiviraj Harichandan said the party will win both the seats as there was a strong undercurrent among the voters against the BJD government. “Lack of confidence of voters against the government was reflected in the bypolls. We are confident of our victory in both the seats,” said Prithiviraj.
Meanwhile, chief electoral officer S K Lohani revised the final voting percentage in both the constituencies. While 70.69% votes were polled in Balasore, Tirtol saw 69.66% votes polled. Around 3,193 voters exercised their franchise through postal ballot in Tirtol while 1,613 did the same in Balasore. Lohani said several Covid positive people were allowed to vote in the last hour with safety precautions in place.
EoM