Balasore: Even though independent candidate Benudhar Barik was massively popular during campaigning for Balasore Sadar by-poll, he has so far managed to secure only 217 votes till last reports came in.
Supported by popular opera artist Rani Panda and transgenders, Barik had raised high hopes of garnering a large chunk of votes.
But the result shows something different. Out of total 36,675 votes counted so far, Barik has managed to get only 217 votes.
As per the latest update (7th round), in Balasore Sadar constituency, BJD’s Swarup Kumar Das was leading as he polled 25,112 votes.
At the same time, BJP’s Manas Kumar Dutta and Congress’s Mamata Kundu received 22,693 and 2,011 votes respectively.
Independent candidates Benudhar Barik, Bhagyauddit Daspattanayak and Md Numan Khan bagged 217, 80 and 66 votes respectively. 161 votes were polled as NOTA.
Benudhar Barik, the eldest among the six candidates in race for the by-poll, is a resident of Gudipada in Balasore town. A barber by profession, Benudhar spent nearly five decades of his life under a tree giving haircuts to people.
At the far end of his life, he is out to save the society, which according to him is crumbling due to large scale corruption and high-handedness of rich and mighty people.
PNN
