Bhubaneswar, May 13: Ruling BJD in Odisha is all set to retain the Jharsuguda Assembly seat as its candidate Depali Das had established a huge lead over her nearest rival Tankadhar Tripathy of BJP.
It was a foregone conclusion that Deepali Das, daughter of former Health Minister Naba Das whose murder by a cop necessitated the bypoll in Jharsuguda will win the seat as she is leading over a margin of 48,459 votes at the end of 18th round of counting.
Only a formal announcement of BJD candidate winning the seat in the by poll is awaited from the Chief Electoral Office.
Official sources said at the end of 18th round BJD candidate Deepali Das had garnered 106604 votes while her nearest rival Tankadhar Tripathy had secured 58,145 votes.
Congress candidate Tarun Pande, son of former MLA Biren Pande has got only 4463 votes and would forfeit his security deposit in the byelection.
A jubilant and emotional Deppali Das thanked Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik for reposing confidence in her. She also thanked the people of Jharsuguda and all the senior leaders of the BJD for supporting her in the electoral battle.
She described the day as a Big Day for the people of Jharsuguda and said she will seek blessings from all seniors.
Incidentally this time the candidates of all the three major political parties are debutant in the electoral politics and contesting the elections for the first time.
