Odisha bypoll: BJP ahead of BJD in Dhamnagar

Bhadrak (Odisha): BJP candidate Suryabanshi Suraj registered a lead over his BJD rival Abanti Das by 3,261 votes after the initial rounds of counting of votes for Dhamnagar bypolls in Odisha’s Bhadrak district, Election Commission (EC) trends revealed on Sunday.

According to the EC, Suraj secured 18,181 votes in the first four rounds of counting, while BJD candidate Abanti Das bagged 14,920.

Congress nominee Baba Harekrushna Sethi got 557 votes in Odisha bypoll.

An election official said a three-tier security arrangement is in place for the counting exercise.

A central supervisor, an assistant supervisor and a micro-observer are present along with party agents at the counting centre, the official said.

The Dhamnagar seat fell vacant following the death of BJP MLA Bishnu Charan Sethi in September.

At least 68.98 per cent of the seat’s 2,38,417 voters had cast their votes in 252 booths of Dhamnagar on November 3.

Suraj, son of the deceased MLA, said, “I am fighting the election from Dhamnagar as a local who knows about the place and people here.” Senior BJD leader and state minister Pramila Mallick exuded confidence that party candidate Abanti Das will win the election by a wide margin.

Sporadic violence was reported in Dhamnagar on Friday and Saturday.

Three people, including a woman, were injured and a house burnt down in the violence in Tihidi block, a police officer said.

A father-daughter duo was attacked with iron rods by alleged supporters of a political party in Talagopabindha village on Friday night. They have been admitted to the Bhadrak district headquarters hospital, the officer said.

In another incident, a person claimed that he was attacked by supporters of a rival party on Saturday morning.

A family at Kharapada gram panchayat alleged that their thatched house was set on fire "due to political reasons" by members of a party.

Odisha's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S K Lohani, however, said on Saturday that he had no information on post-poll violence and would enquire about it from Bhadrak SP.