Bhubaneswar: May 15: On May 15, Dipali Das of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) took the oath of office as a member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly. She defeated her nearest BJP opponent Tankadhar Tripathy in the Jharsuguda by-election by a margin of more than 48,721 votes. With only 4,496 votes, Tarun Pandey of the Congress came in third place.
Since Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha recently resigned, Deputy Speaker Rajanikanta Singh administered the oath of office to Dipali in the state Assembly.
The newly elected legislator was accompanied by members of her family. During the swearing-in ceremony, two women ministers, Rita Sahu, and Pramila Mallick, as well as BJD MLAs Pranab Balabantaray, Ananta Narayan Jena, and Susant Rout, were present.
Speaking to the media, Dipali said, “I will devote myself to the people of Jharsuguda. Will work with integrity for the development of my district and to fulfill my father’s (Naba Kishore Das) dreams.”
The by-election was necessitated following the murder of sitting MLA and the then Health Minister Naba Kishore Das.
