Bhubaneswar: Trends have changed. For the first time in two decades, Odisha politics has seen a different picture. For the first time, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has bitten the dust in the by-election. The BJP has won the Dhamnagar by-election in Bhadrak district. Suryavanshi, the son of late leader Vishnu Sethi, won the seat. He defeated his nearest rival, Avanti Das of bjd by a margin of 9,881 votes. Suryavanshi Suraj got 80,351 votes, while Avanti got 70,470 votes. Congress candidate Baba Harekrishna Sethi is in fourth place. Baba got 3,561 votes. Bjd’s rebel candidate, Rajendra Das has proved to be the turning point here. He won 8,153 votes. Which has cost the BJD dearly. Notably, the BJD managed to win all the by-elections held in the recent past. This is the first time the ruling party has had to taste defeat. Surya’s father, Vishnu Sethi had won the Dhamnagar seat in the 2019 assembly elections.

The BJP candidate has been at the forefront since the beginning of counting of votes. The BJP candidate got 4749 votes in the primary phase while the BJP candidate got 3980 votes. The Congress candidate got 216 votes while the others got 400 votes. At the end of the second phase, the BJP was leading, while by the end of the third round of counting, BJP candidate Suryavanshi Suraj was leading by 2033 votes.

Bjp’s Suryavanshi Suraj was leading by 3,161 votes in the fourth round, 3,572 votes in the fifth round, 4,392 votes in the sixth round, 5,200 votes in the seventh round, 5,991 votes in the eighth round, 5,265 votes in the ninth round and ahead of the BJD in the 10th round.

The BJP candidate, who is on the path of victory, is leading by 5310 votes in the 11th round, leading by 6214 votes in the 12th round, leading by 6755 votes in the 13th round, leading by 7661 votes in the 14th round, leading by 7663 votes in the 15th round, leading by 7663 votes in the 16th round. Suryavanshi Suraj was leading by 742 votes.