Padmapur: A panchayat under Basudevpur block in Bhadrak district that has been a Congress bastion for the last 60 years has voted for Biju Janta Dal (BJD) during the recently-concluded rural polls.
As per sources, people of Balimunda panchayat had been electing sarpanch and samiti members from Congress, but this time the voters changed their mind and handed out electoral success to the ruling BJD.
BJD-backed sarpanch candidate Namita Das and samiti member Chhabirani Maiti have emerged victorious, providing a shot in the arm to the ruling party here.
Sarpanch candidate Namita Das defeated her nearest rival Congress-supported Pratima Bhuyan by a margin of 296 votes while samiti member candidate Chhabirani Maiti routed Congressbacked candidate Laxmipriya Bori by a margin of 119 votes.
Exuding electoral success for the party, Basudevpur MLA Bishnubrata Routray said people of this panchayat had long been wishing for a change and have now given a chance to the ruling party candidates to serve them.
He thanked people for such success after 60 years.
PNN
