Bhubaneswar: Senior Congress leader Suresh Routray (MLA) on Wednesday blamed party leaders for the poor performance in the recently concluded by-elections in the state, saying the outcome has shocked many.
While talking to reports, Routray alleged that some leaders of the party sabotaged the entire poll preparations which led to the party’s dismal performance in the bypolls for Tirtol and Balasore Sadar assembly constituencies.
The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) emerged victorious in both the seats. It is pertinent to mention here that the BJD snatched the Balasore Sadar seat from the BJP.
“Our leaders did not campaign properly and mostly were found sleeping in hotels. Such conspiracy was made to oust the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik,” alleged Routray.
The other reason for the Congress’ poor performance, Routray claimed, was because the party could not afford to spend money like the BJD and BJP.
The senior Congress leader further stated that though there would be an introspection of the poll debacle but it would not be followed by any action against anyone.
In the Balasore Sadar bypoll, BJD’s Swarup Kumar Das won by a margin of 13,351 votes over his nearest rival from the BJP, Manas Kumar Dutta.
Das secured 84097 votes while BJP’s Manas Kumar Dutta got 70746 votes and Congress candidate Mamata Kundu garnered 4983 vote.
In Tirtol, BJD’s Bijaya Shankar Das won the by-polls by a margin of 41,703 votes from BJP’s Rajkishore Behera. Das secured 88,310 votes while BJP’s Rajkishore Behera got 46607 votes with Congress candidate Himanshu Bhusan Mallick garnering 28,778 votes.