October 3
BJD wins Pipili Bypoll
Late Biju Janata Dal (BJD) stalwart Pradeep Maharathy’s Son Rudra Pratap Maharathy won in bypoll of Pipili Assembly Constituency.
BJD candidate Rudra Maharathy has managed to bag 96,392 votes against BJP’s Ashrit Pattanayak with 75,770 votes.
Congress nominee Bishwokeshan Harichandan Mohapatra was placed in third position with only 4,237 votes.
The counting of votes in Pipili by-poll began today amid tight security at 8 am. Ten candidates were on the fray.
The voting for the bypoll in the constituency was held on September 30. Over 78 per cent voters had exercised their franchise.
Late Pradeep Maharathy had won seven times in a row (five times on BJD ticket since its inception in 2000) from Pipili.
The seat was lying vacant after his death on October 2020.
The bye-election was first scheduled to be held on April 17, but it was deferred after Congress candidate Ajit Mangaraj died of Covid-19 on April 14. It was scheduled for May 13, but was deferred again.
The bypoll was subsequently rescheduled for May 16. Again, it was postponed in the wake of upsurge in COVID cases in second wave of the pandemic.
