2018 Bijepur Assembly bypolls in Odisha - BJD's Rita Sahu wins by a margin of 41933 votes Wednesday Feb 28,2018

Rita Sahu won the by-election by defeating her nearest BJP rival Ashok Panigrahi by a margin of 41,933 votes, an EC official said.

After 21 rounds of counting, Sahu polled 1,02,871 votes while BJP's Ashok Panigrahy was a distant second at 60,938 votes. Congress candidate Pranay Sahu was relegated to an also ran and secured 10,274 votes.

Hailing his party candidate Rita Sahu’s victory in Bijepur Assembly bypolls today, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the outcome of the polls would have an impact on the general elections in 2019

“Such an enormous victory with a margin of over 40,000 votes will have an impact on future elections,” Patnaik told

“Odisha is a peaceful state; the people will not stand for violence in a democracy,” he added. “I would like to express my deep gratitude to the people of Bijepur Assembly constituency for having showered their blessings on the BJD,” Patnaik said.