The result of the by-election to Ward-26 of the Brahmapur Municipal Corporation (BMC), which had gone to polls on Tuesday, was announced on Wednesday dealing a blow to the ruling BJD. Dr Namitarani Panda of the BJP retained the prestigious seat of Corporator with 1,201 votes while Puspanjali Padhi of the BJD got 1,070 votes; followed by Smitarani Sabat of the Congress with 712.
Ganjam BJP leader Rama Chandra Panda had drawn out an effective strategy to retain the seat. The party’s youth leader and former BMC Mayor Shiva Shankar Das gave the credit to Panda for the party candidate’s victory. Dr Namitarani Panda along with several senior party functionaries made a courtesy call on Rama Chandra Panda at his residence here and conveyed their gratitude to him. Panda in his reaction said the fall of the BJD rule has just begun.