Bhubaneswar: The BJP tally in Assembly elections rose to 79 after its expelled leader Himanshu Sahoo, who won from Dharmasala, was inducted into the saffron fold in Odisha capital on Wednesday. This came a day after he met senior party leader Dharmendra Pradhan, who won the MP seat from Sambalpur, at the party office here.
Himanshu was expelled from the party on May 29 after he entered the poll fray as an independent. Though he was credited for strengthening the BJP at the grassroots level in Dharmasala, the party nominated Smruti Rekha Pahi, who was the Congress candidate from the seat in 2019, from the seat ignoring his candidature.
He defeated sitting Dharmasala MLA of BJD Pranab Balabantray by 4,150 votes in the once stronghold of the regional party. He polled in 79,759 while Pranab got 75,609. The BJP nominee finished a distant third with 15,926 votes.
The BJP had won a majority by winning 78 of 147 Assembly seats in Odisha, the result of which was declared on Tuesday, while the BJD, which had been in power since 2000, was reduced to 51 seats. The Congress won 14 seats while one went to CPI (M). Two more BJP rebels have also won the election from their respective constituencies.
In 2019 elections, the BJD had won 112 seats, BJP 23 and Congress 9.