The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a clear victory with party candidate Jay Dholakia defeating his rivals by a margin of 83,748 votes in the Nuapada Assembly by-election on Friday. According to the final results, Dholakia polled 1,23,869 votes, emerging far ahead of his nearest competitor, Congress candidate Ghasi Ram Majhi, who finished second with 40,121 votes. Snehangini Chhuria of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), who secured 38,408 votes and finished third, failed to make any significant impact on the electoral outcome.
The bypoll was necessitated by the untimely demise of an erstwhile BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia earlier this year.
Dholakia's spectacular victory as the BJP candidate appeared to be the enactment of a similar political event the state had witnessed approximately seven years ago. The replay began with Jay Dholakia’s induction into the BJP a few days after the announcement of the Nuapada by-election.
The by-election held in Bijepur in 2018 saw a drastic change in the political configuration when the widow of sitting Congress MLA Subal Sahu, Rita Sahu, joined the BJD and became its candidate. This move was widely interpreted as an attempt by the then-ruling party to capitalise on the sympathy factor. Rita Sahu won the by-election, a significant blow to the Congress.
Similarly, Jay Dholakia is the son of the sitting BJD MLA and former Minister Rajendra Dholakia, whose demise necessitated the current by-election, and the BJP is now the ruling party in the state. The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD, which governed Odisha for 24 years, has been facing an internal crisis with leaders openly expressing resentment over its style of functioning since its electoral debacle in the 2024 twin polls.
With Jay on its side, the BJP aimed to reclaim the seat from the BJD by riding the sympathy wave. The saffron party had previously won the seat twice, in 2000 and 2014, with former state party president Basanta Panda as its candidate.
Speculation about Jay's political shift began when he and his mother invited Chief Minister Mohan Majhi to attend Rajendra Dholakia’s memorial function on September 21st in Nuapada. Majhi not only accepted the invitation but also visited the Dholakia residence to offer condolences.
During Jay’s induction into the BJP, Majhi stated that Jay would complete the unfinished tasks of his father, who had grand aspirations for Nuapada but was unable to realise them due to restrictions and interference from "extra-constitutional authorities" during his tenure in the BJD government, subtly confirming his candidature.
The BJD, ironically, termed Jay’s entry into the BJP a classic case of horse-trading, accusing him of having sold himself to the saffron party. Jay and his family strongly refuted this allegation, claiming instead that the BJD had ignored Rajendra Dholakia during his illness and had shown disrespect to the late leader.
The outcome of the by-election was considered highly significant for all three major political parties and their respective leaders. For Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, the victory is seen as consolidating his authority and reaffirming his government’s strength.
Also read: BJD accuses BJP of MCC breach, voter intimidation in Nuapada
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