In Odisha bypolls, Naveen Patnaik’s BJD maintains lead in both assembly seats

BJD candidates Bijay Shankar Das and Swarup Kumar Das lead over BJP rivals by 14,561 and 5,302 votes, respectively.

File imge of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. | PTI

Bhubaneswar: BJD candidates continued to lead in both the assembly seats, where counting of votes polled in the November 3 by-elections is underway on Tuesday, election officials said.

BJD’s Bijay Shankar Das was leading over BJP candidate Rajkishore Behera by 14,561 votes in Tirtol seat in Jagatsinghpur district, they said.

Das polled 32,075 votes after 10 rounds of counting, while Behera has bagged 17,514 votes. Congress nominee Himanshu Bhushan Mallick has got 6,835 votes.

In Balasore, BJD candidate Swarup Kumar Das was leading over his nearest BJP rival Manas Kumar Dutta by 5,302 votes.

Das bagged 37,487 votes after 11 rounds of counting, while Dutta followed with 32,185 votes. Congress candidate Mamata Kundu was trailing in third place with 2,286 votes.

The deaths of Balasore’s BJP MLA Madan Mohan Dutta and Tirtol’s BJD legislator Bishnu Charan Das necessitated the by-elections.