Bhubaneswar: BJP candidate and former parliamentarian from Kendrapara, Baijayant Jay Panda has suffered the biggest defeat of his life.
The people of Kendrapara have dumped Baijayant and reposed faith in Anubhav Mohanty.
In one of the most keenly watched election contests, Anubhav Mohanty of Biju Janata Dal defeated Baijayant by more than one lakh fifty thousand votes.
The battle for Kendrapara was considered most crucial for the BJD because the constituency was the Karmabhumi of legendary Biju Patnaik and the party has been winning the seat from 1998. For Baijayant Panda, who turned out to be a cheater in the eyes of the people of Kendrapara, it is a huge set back.
Since the ouster of Bayjayant from Biju Janata Dal and his subsequent joining in the Bharatijaya Janata Party he became the enemy number one for the ruling BJD. His false tirade against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has backfired. Now the political survival of Baijayant is doubtful.
Panda represented the prestigious constituency twice to the parliament when he was in the BJD. He won the last elections by more than 2 lakh vote margin over Congress’ Dharanidhar Nayak.
The defeat of Jay Panda proves that the former MP has been punished by the people of Kendrapara for his misdeeds and dishonesty. Instead of working for the people, he engaged himself in his own economic and political interests. It also proves that his survival was possible because of the leadership of Naveen Patnaik. It once again established that there is no alternative to Biju Janata Dal.
The results of Kendrapara Lok Sabha elections also gave a massive blow to the BJP, which had pinned its hopes on Panda to make inroads across coastal Odisha where the saffron outfit has been weak traditionally.