Naveen Wave Brings Landslide Victory for BJD in Patkura, Bijoy Mohapatra Fails to Break His Own Jinx Yet Again

Kendrapara: Riding high on the clear Naveen wave, the ruling Biju Janata Dal registered a landslide victory in Patkura Assembly seat in Kendrapara district with a handsome margin of over 17,000 votes on Wednesday.

BJD candidate Sabitri Agarwalla secured 95,162 votes after conclusion of 18 rounds of counting defeating her nearest rival BJP’s Bijoy Mohapatra, who got 77,507 votes.

The crucial by-poll on July 20 witnessed a voter turnout of 72.75 per cent, which is the highest in the electoral history of Patkura. The BJD got highest per cent of votes followed by the BJP. The Congress ended a crushing third. As many as 10 candidates were in the fray.

The decisive results of Patkura election could be seen as much as a reflection of BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s charisma and his unparalleled popularity among the people of Kendrapara district in general and Patkura in particular.

The victory assumes greater significance for the BJD, for not because of the numerical factor as the ruling party had already registered an overwhelming victory in the April-May Assembly elections in Odisha winning more than three-fourths of seats.

For the Naveen-led party, it was a prestigious battle to reinforce its dominance in Patkura, which enjoys the reputation of being a BJD stronghold for the last two decades.

And for the veteran BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra, it was like a do or die battle, in which his political survival was at stake. The four-time MLA and a former minister, Mohapatra had not won a single election in the past 19 years since he was expelled from the BJD.

Mohapatra, often projected himself as an outspoken detractor of the BJD supremo, made all possible attempts to break his own jinx in electoral politics, but he failed each time.

The veteran leader was defeated in the 2004, 2009 and 2014 elections and this time is also no exception.

In the run-up to the Patkura election, Mohapatra had left no stone unturned to woo the voters. He launched much spirited door-to-door campaign in the constituency and a galaxy of star campaigners including Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi also joined the veteran leader in the high voltage campaign.

On the other hand, the BJD’s campaign completely relied on the popularity of Naveen’s clean image and his pro-poor development works in Kendrapara district. The BJD supremo campaigned extensively in Patkura holding roadshows in most parts of the constituency. Naveen’s campaign successfully created an impulse among the voters for his party candidate and it has been reflected in the today’s result.

With this victory, the BJD has once again proved that it is invincible in Patkura. And the political survival of Bijoy Mohapatra seems to be under threat!