Bhubaneswar: Newly elected BJP legislator Suryabanshi Suraj Wednesday took oath as a member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly.
The twenty-seven-year-old Suraj was administered the oath by Speaker B K Arukha at a special function held in the Assembly premises and attended by Leader of Opposition J N Mishra and other MLAs.
Suraj, a B Tech graduate is the youngest member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly. He was elected from the Dhamnagar assembly segment in a by-poll which was necessitated following the demise of his father and sitting BJP MLA Bishnu Charan Sethi.
He retained the Dhamnagar assembly seat for the BJP by defeating BJD’s Abanti Das by a margin of 9,881 votes. While Suraj secured 80,351 votes, Das got 70,470 votes in the bypoll, the results of which were declared Sunday.
Congress candidate Baba Harekrushna Sethy lost his deposit as he got only 3,561 votes.
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After taking oath as an MLA, Suraj said: “I am indebted to the people of Dhamnagar and the party. I am grateful to the people of Dhamnagar for their unconditional love and affection. I was contesting the by-election in a very pathetic condition after losing my father. In such a testing time, the people of Dhamnagar showered blessings on me. This is time to repay the people’s debt.”
Before the oath taking ceremony, the newly elected lawmaker was accorded a rousing reception at the BJP state headquarters here. A special programme was organized at the party office to welcome him. Senior party leader and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, state BJP president Samir Mohanty and other leaders welcomed him.
