Odisha: BJD's Dipali Das wins Jharsuguda assembly by-poll

Bhubaneswar: The ruling BJD in Odisha retained the Jharsuguda assembly seat on Saturday, as its candidate Dipali Das defeated her nearest BJP rival Tankadhar Tripathy by 48,721 votes, an election official said.

Das secured a total of 1,07,198 votes, while Tripathy bagged 58,477 votes. Congress candidate Tarun Pandey came third with 4,496 votes, the Election Commission official said.

Dipali is the daughter of Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das, whose assassination in January allegedly by a police officer necessitated the by-poll.

Naba Kishore Das had won the seat by a margin of 45,740 votes in the 2019 general elections.