The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD has asserted its political supremacy once again by winning the Brajaraj Nagar Assembly bypoll.

BJD candidate Alaka Mohanty, wife of Kishore Mohanty whose death vacated the seat, won with ease, defeating her nearest Congress rival, Kishore Chandra Patel by a margin of 66,122 votes. The BJP, which is the main Opposition party in the state, was relegated to third place.

Alaka polled 93,953 votes against the Congress candidate’s 27,831 votes. BJP candidate Radha Rani Panda could manage only 22,630 votes.

The result comes as a blow to the BJP that fared badly despite the fact that western Odisha happens to be the stronghold of the party. The party holds all the five Lok Sabha seats in the region. The party being relegated to the third place means that it is losing its grip over western Odisha.

The bypoll had assumed significance, as this was the last opportunity for major parties to test their popularity before the 2024 general elections. It was a prestige issue for Naveen Patnaik too as the seat belonged to his party. The party had pulled out all stops to not only retain the seat but also win it by a record margin. Several ministers and top-ranking BJD leaders had camped in Brajaraj Nagar to ensure that the party won with a convincing majority. BJD president and chief minister Naveen had skipped campaigning for the bypoll.

The BJD not only won the seat but also made deep inroads into the BJP’s votebank in the area. With the BJP having engaged its top leaders, including Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, for the campaign the party had hoped to give a tough fight to the ruling party. Its candidate Radha Rani Panda, who was the MLA from the seat from 2014 to 2019, is a veteran and was supremely confident about her prospects in the bypoll. But the result has left her and her supporters crestfallen.

After winning the seat with a huge margin Alaka said: “I am thankful to our chief minister Naveen Patnaik for reposing faith in me. I am thankful to the people of Brajaraj Nagar. I would work for the overall development of Brajaraj Nagar.”

Naveen congratulated the people of Brajaraj Nagar for extending their support to Alaka.

Accepting defeat, Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja said: “We had all tried a lot to put up a good show. But there was a sympathy wave for Alaka Mohanty, wife of the Late Kishore Mohanty. We have improved our situation. But it won’t be repeated again. We will win the 2024 election.”

The seat was a Congress bastion from 1995 to 2014. In 2014, the BJP had snatched away the seat from the Congress as there was a wave in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But it failed to retain the seat in 2019 when the BJD won it with a margin of 10,000 votes.