Sohela/Bhatli: Odisha’s Labour and Energy Minister Susanta Singh achieved a hat-trick by winning the election from Bhatli Assembly constituency for the third consecutive time. Singh defeated his opponent, BJP’s Irasis Acharya by a margin of 23, 330 votes.
The contest between Singh and Acharya had been a close one since counting of the Bhatli and Ambabhona blocks began. Singh gained a minor lead of 2,500 votes from the Bhatli block. However, votes from the Sohela block gave him a runaway win.
Prior to Singh, no other contestant had won three elections in a row from Bhatli constituency. In the 2019 elections Singh got 98, 385 votes while Irasis got 75, 055 votes. Among other contestants, Narayan Vesra of BSP, Saroj Kumar Mohapatra of Congress and Dhanapati Sahoo of Samata Kranti Dal got 1,159, 8,338, and 1,007 votes respectively. There were 1,364 voters who opted for the pressed NOTA button.
Once the Election Commission announced the result, Singh’s followers and well-wishers gathered at his residence to congratulate him. His followers in Sohela, Bhatli and Ambabhona were seen in a celebratory mood, distributing sweets among themselves and bursting crackers.
PNN
