BJD reclaims Balasore from BJP, retains Tirtol to boost assembly numbers

BHUBANESWAR: Continuing its dominance in regional politics, the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD snatched the Balasore constituency from the BJP while retaining its hold on Tirtol in the byelections, the results of which were announced on Tuesday.
BJD’s Bijay Shankar Das defeated BJP’s Rajkishore Behera by 41,703 votes in Tirtol, surpassing his father's victory margin of 40,386 in 2019. While the BJD polled 88,310 votes (52.91%), the BJP got 46,607 (27.92%).In Balasore, Swarup Kumar Das beat BJP’s Manas Kumar Dutta by 13,351 votes. Swarup polled 84,097 votes (51.8%) compared to Dutta’s 70,746 (43.58%).
The Congress finished a poor third in both the constituencies. It polled 28,778 votes in Tirtol (17.24%) and just 4,983 in Balasore, a mere 3.07%.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik termed the victory as a reflection of people’s love and unconditional support for the party and government. “I am thankful to the BJD workers who reached out to the people and won their hearts. I am grateful to the people of Balasore and Tirtol, especially women who came out to vote and blessed us during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. It is your victory. The BJD is committed to your development,” Naveen tweeted. With the two seats, the BJD’s tally in the 147-member assembly went up to 113 while the BJP dropped to 22. The house has nine Congress members with others winning two. One seat has fallen vacant following the recent death of BJD MLA Pradeep Maharathy.
In the bypolls held following the death of sitting MLAs, BJP’s Madan Mohan Dutta in Balasore and BJD’s Bishnu Charan Das in Tirtol, the two parties had fielded their sons to draw sympathy votes in the respective seats. It worked for the BJD, but not for the BJP.
Poll analysts feel while the result is reassuring for Naveen, it also reflects the fact that people have appreciated his government’s handling of the on-going pandemic, which was a major talking point.
Asima Sahu, a professor of political science at Ravenshaw University, said nothing seems to have changed in people’s mind since the 2019 elections when Odisha had given a split verdict by voting for the BJP strongly in Lok Sabha polls and the BJD in the assembly election.
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Since this is an assembly bypoll, the votes have gone in favour of the BJD. Naveen remains the undisputed leader,” Sahu said.
In what was a new experiment for the BJD, Naveen skipped visiting the constituencies for campaigning owing to Covid-19. Instead, he addressed one virtual rally each. But in the end, that seemed enough.
From the BJP, however, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan had campaigned in both seats extensively and Union minister Pratap Sarangi had virtually been camping in Balasore, part of his Lok Sabha segment.
State BJP president Samir Mohanty said the reason behind the party not winning in Balasore is the transfer of Congress votes to the BJD, while Tirtol was a repeat of 2019. “We will work harder to gain people’s confidence,” Mohanty said.
Stating that the results in the two bypolls are a setback to the party, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik said, “We will introspect as to what went wrong and come out with a robust road map to revive the party at the grass roots.”