Bhubaneswar/Bargarh: The counting of votes for the Bijepur bypoll concluded and BJD came out victorious by registering a thumping win by a margin of 41,933 votes over its nearest rival BJP. Congress seemed to be the biggest loser.
The outcome of the results of Bijepur Assembly seat assumes significance particularly for major political parties including BJD, BJP and Congress as it is seen as the precursor to the 2019 general elections.
Track Updates, Counting of Bijepur by-election Result:
Final Results: BJD-1,02,871; BJP-69,938; Congress-10,274 - announcement made by returning officer Tapiram Majhi
Round 20: BJD all set to register a thumping win. Rita Sahu extends her lead to 41, 539 and is ahead with 101435 votes, BJP is standing at 59,896, while Congress in third spot with only 10,153 votes
Round 19: BJD's Rita Sahu extends the lead to 40,248. BJD is ahead with 97,724; BJP is trailing with 57,476 while Congress has bagged 8934 votes till now.
01:05-01:11:- Round 18: BJD's Rita Sahu extends the lead to 38,268 votes. BJD is ahead with 93,283 votes; BJP trailing with 55,015 votes and Congress' Pranaya Sahu far behind with 7,914 votes
12:54-01:04pm:- After the completion of Round 17 vote count, BJD candidate Rita Sahu extended her lead to 37,138 votes over BJP's Ashok Panigrahi. BJD is ahead with 88,929 votes, BJP trailing with 51,791 and Congress still far behind with 7213 votes.
12:45-12:53:- After round 16 of 21, BJD candidate Rita Sahu extended her lead to 36,787 votes over BJP's Ashok Panigrahi. BJD is ahead with 84969 votes, BJP trailing with 48182 and Congress still far behind with 6451 votes.
12:35-12:40:- After round 15 of 21, BJD candidate Rita Sahu extended her lead to 36, 298 votes over BJP's Ashok Panigrahi. BJD is ahead with 81488 votes, BJP trailing with 45190 and Congress still far behind with 4608 votes
12:25-12:31:- After round 14 of 21, BJD candidate Rita Sahu extended her lead to 32, 579 votes over BJP's Ashok Panigrahi. BJD is ahead with 75740 votes, BJP trailing with 43161 and Congress still far behind with 3755 votes
12:15-12:22:- After round 13 of 21, BJD candidate Rita Sahu extended her lead to 31, 229 votes over BJP's Ashok Panigrahi. BJD is ahead with 71454 votes, BJP trailing with 40225 and Congress still far behind with 3527 votes
11:55-12:02:- After round 12 of 21, BJD candidate Rita Sahu extended her lead to 28,282 votes over BJP's Ashok Panigrahi. BJD is ahead with 65401 votes, BJP trailing with 37119 and Congress still far behind with 3259 votes
11:43-11:53am:- After round 11 of 21, BJD candidate Rita Sahu extended her lead to 25,166 votes over BJP's Ashok Panigrahi. BJD is ahead with 59298 votes, BJP behind with 34132 and Congress has bagged 2980 votes
11:25-11:35:- Total Tally after Round 10 - BJD's Rita Sahu is leading with 54,104 votes; BJP's Ashok Panigarhi is trailing with 31,366 votes while Congress' Pranaya Sahu is far behind with 2,788
11:13-11:23am:- Round 9: BJD-50095, BJP-29304, Congress-2643
11:05-11:08:- Round 8: BJD's Rita Sahu has taken massive lead of 19055 from her contenders. BJD is leading with 45044 votes, while BJP is trailing with 25989 and Congress with 2263 votes.
10:45-10;55:- Round 7: BJD is leading with 38814 votes, BJP has bagged 23739 till now, Congress is behind with 2083 votes
10: 30-10:40:- Round 6: After completion of sixth round vote counting, Rita Sahu is still maintaining the lead and is ahead by 12,798 votes from her nearest contender, BJP's Ashok Panigrahi. BJD is leading with 33377 votes, while BJP is at 20,579 and Congress is far behind with 1877 votes.
10:20-10:30:- Round 5: After fifth round vote counting, BJD’s Rita Sahu is leading with 28,621 votes while BJP and Congress have bagged 16,628 and 1762 votes respectively.
10:05-10:15am:- Round 4: After the completion of Round 04: BJD’s Rita Sahu is leading with 23,054 votes whereas BJP and Congress are trailing behind with 14,175 and 1,425 votes.
9:50-10:00am:- Round 3: BJD has maintained the lead and is standing tall with 17387 votes, BJP behind with 9800, Congress with 948 votes.
9:30-9:40am:- Round 2: BJD-11676, BJP-5910, Congress-683
8:20-8:30am:- Round 1: BJD has started impressively with 5675 votes, BJP is trailing with 2769 votes, Congress 315
8:05 am: Strong room opened, EVMs being taken out amid tight security
8:10 am: Counting of votes to be completed in 21 rounds
Nearly 82% of voters exercised their franchise in the by-election for the Bijepur seat held on February 24.
Though a total of 13 candidates had contested in the bypoll, it is likely that there would be a triangular contest between the candidates of the BJD, the BJP and the Congress.