Newly-elected Rita Sahu meets CM Naveen

Bhubaneswar: After winning by a huge margin in the by-election to Bijepur assembly constituency, the newly-elected BJD MLA Rita Sahu today met Chief Minister & party president Naveen Patnaik at his residence in Bhubaneswar to seek blessings. She was accompanied by ministers Susanta Singh, Snehangini Chhuria and other senior party leaders along with hundreds of supporters.

"I sought his blessings and he advised me to serve the people of Bijepur. I will try to fulfil the dreams of my husband. My prime focus will be on drinking water, irrigation and problems of weavers," Sahu told OTV soon after meeting the CM.

Labour Minister Susanta Singh who accompanied Rita to Naveen Niwas said that proper strategy and a well-planned election management led to the party’s success. "Our workers at grassroots level worked hard. The most important factor was our strategy which worked well," Singh said.

Rita, the widow of late Bijepur MLA Subal Sahu, registered a landslide victory in the by-poll by defeating her nearest candidate Ashok Panigrahi of BJP by a huge margin of 41,933 votes.