BJD's Rudra Pratap Maharathy wins Pipili by-poll by over 20,000 votes

Puri: Ruling BJD candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathy won the Pipili by-poll on Sunday, defeating his nearest rival Ashrit Pattnaik of the BJP by over 20,000 votes, the Election Commission said.

Maharathy secured 96,972 votes, while Pattnaik bagged 76,056 votes. Congress nominee Bishwokeshan Harichandan Mohapatra got 4,261 votes, the EC said.

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate Rudra Pratap Maharathy wins Pipili Assembly constituency, as per the Election Commission pic.twitter.com/6ShJJJzb1e — ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2021

Around 78.24 per cent of over 2.29 lakh voters had exercised their franchise in the by-poll on September 30. A total of 25 rounds of counting will be held.

Ten candidates were in the fray for the by-poll which was either countermanded or deferred thrice before September 30. The by-election was necessitated by the death of sitting BJD MLA Pradeep Maharathy in October last year.

Incidentally, the date of counting of votes coincides with the first death anniversary of the sitting MLA, who had succumbed to COVID-19. He had defeated Pattanayak by 15,787 votes in the 2019 elections.