The ruling Biju Janata Dal today wrested the Bijepur Assembly constituency in Odisha from the Congress in a by-poll, with its candidate Rita Sahu defeating her nearest rival, Ashok Panigrahi of the BJP, by 41,933 votes. The Election Commission said Sahu polled 1,02,871 votes against the 60,938 secured by Panigrahi. Pranaya Sahu of the Congress, which had held the seat three terms in a row, came third with 10,274 votes and lost his deposit.
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Odisha - Bijepur Bye-election Results 2018: BJD Candidate Rita Sahu Declared Winner
The seat witnesses a triangular fight between the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
28 Feb, 13:40 (IST)
BJD supporters celebrate as their candidate Rita Sahu maintains a massive lead against the BJP and Congress candidate.
28 Feb, 12:15 (IST)
As per recent trends, Rita Sahu has bagged 54,104 votes while BJP's Ashok Panigarhi has gained 31,366 votes and Congress' Pranaya Sahu is trailing with 2,788 in Bijepur.
28 Feb, 11:30 (IST)
BJD's Rita Sahu is ahead in Bijepur with 45,044 votes, while BJP's Ashok Panigarhi has gained 25,989 votes and Congress' Pranay Sahu is trailing with 2,263 votes.
28 Feb, 11:08 (IST)
BJD is maintaining their lead and is ahead of BJP and Congress in Bijepur. Rita Sahu is leading with 33,377 votes, while BJP and Congress candidates both have 20,579 votes and 1,877 votes respectively.
28 Feb, 10:47 (IST)
BJD's Rita Sahu is leading against the BJP candidate by over 8,000 votes in Bijepur. While BJD has 23,054 votes, the BJP candidate has gained 14,175 votes and the Congress candidate is trailing by 1,425 votes.
28 Feb, 10:19 (IST)
BJD is ahead in Bijepur constituency. Rita Sahu has bagged 17,387 votes while the BJP candidate has gained 9,800 votes. The Congress candidate is trailing with just 948 votes.
28 Feb, 10:12 (IST)
The leading Congress candidate in Bijepur, Rita Sahu is the wife of Subal Sahu, a three-time Congress MLA who passed away last year.
28 Feb, 09:52 (IST)
As the second round of vote counting come to an end, Rita Sahu has bagged 11,676 votes while BJP's Ashok Panigarhi has gained 5,910 votes. Congress' Pranaya Sahu is trailing with 683 votes.
28 Feb, 09:37 (IST)
According to the first round of early trends, Rita Sahu has got 5,675 votes, while BJP's Ashok Panigarhi has received 2,769 votes. Congress's Pranaya Sahu is trailing with 315 votes.
28 Feb, 09:33 (IST)
As per early trends, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate Rita Sahu is leading by 2,986 votes. She is followed by her nearest contender, BJP's Ashok Panigrahi.
28 Feb, 08:53 (IST)
In Bijepur, the counting of postal ballots is underway.
28 Feb, 08:15 (IST)
Counting of votes begins at Bijapur at 8 am. Tight security is in place.
Bhubaneswar, Feb 27: The bye-elections in Odisha's Bijepur constituency was held on Saturday, featuring a 72 percent voter turnout. The results of Bijepur bypoll is scheduled to be declared today. The State Election Commission was scheduled to begin the counting of votes at 8 am. The seat witnesses a triangular fight between the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Stay tuned with Latestly for the live updates and result of Bijepur by-election.
The bypoll was necessitated following the death of incumbent Congress MLA Subal Sahu, who passed away in August last year. Sahu's wife Rita Sahu is contesting her husband's seat on BJD ticket, whereas, the BJP has fielded Ashok Panigrahi. Congress, on the other hand, pins hope in Pranay Sahu to retain the seat for the party.
In the elections on February 24, over 2.21 lakh voters were eligible to exercise their vote. However, the turnout was lower as compared to 2014, when 81.6 per cent polling was registered.
The BJD campaign in the seat was led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Pollsters claimed the party was cautious ahead of the polls considering the rise of the BJP, which emerged as the prime challenger during the state-wide civic body polls held last year.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 28, 2018 07:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).