The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has won the much talked about Umerkote by-election with its candidate Subas Gond defeating Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Dharmu Gond by more than 21,000 votes.
In the triangular contest, while the BJD candidate polled 54,713 votes, his nearest BJP rival got 33,652 votes. The Congress candidate, Jatindra Gond secured third position with a vote of 32,877 in the by-poll voting for which was held on November 30.
The by-election was necessitated following the death of BJD MLA Jagabandhu Majhi, who was shot dead by some miscreants on September 24
The poll result has come as a much needed breather for the BJD, which was treating the election as a litmus test to gauge the public mood in this Naxal-infested constituency in the backdrop of series of corruption allegations involving allotment of plot and houses to VIPs, supply of dal in the mid-day meal and irregularities in mining operations were slapped against the Naveen Patnaik government since it came to power for the third time in 2009.
Even though the deceased MLA from Umerkote belonged to BJD, the ruling party took the election seriously ahead of panchayat polls next year and had ordered at least half a dozen ministers and several party MLAs to camp at this tribal dominated constituency to ensure the win for BJD.
Overwhelmed over the higher number of votes in the course of its win compared to the last poll, the BJD leaders said it was image of Naveen Patnaik and the development programmes undertaken by his government which led to the victory.
However, the BJP blamed its loss on the tampering of electronic voting machines by the ruling BJD.
“It not Janadesh (public mandate), but the Jantradesh (mandate from machine), which should be given credit for BJD’s win, said party spokesperson Ashok Sahu.
The BJD tested its strength amid very keen competition from BJP, which had fielded defeated candidate from 2009 assembly election to contest the poll and had invited Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Rama Singh as star campaigner to pull the crowd, given the geographical proximity of this constituency to Chhattisgarh.
The BJD has recently won the municipality election in the politically sensitive town of Kendrapada in the coastal belt.
The panchayat elections in the state are going to be held in January-February next year.
