Bhubaneswar, Dec 8 : Establishing a convincing lead, Odisha’s ruling BJD seemed all set to retain the Padampur Assembly seat on Thursday as the vote count was on for the December 5 by-poll.
State Chief Electoral Office (CEO) sources said Barsha Singh Bariha of BJD is leading by 12,548 votes over her nearest rival BJP candidate Pradeep Kumar Purohit by the end of the seventh round.
While Barsha has polled 37,651 votes, Purohit garnered 25,103 votes. Congress candidate Satya Bhusan Sahu has received only 1131 votes so far.
The by-election was necessitated by the demise of sitting BJD MLA Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha. Barsha Singh Bariha is the daughter of the deceased legislator.
On the other hand, Predeep Purihit and Satya Bhusan Sahu, who had won the Assembly seat in the past are contesting the by-election on BJP and Congress ticketS respectively.
Altogether ten candidates, including five Independents, are in the fray.
The trend indicates that barring the BJD and BJP candidates, all other contestants are likely to forfeit their deposit.
