Nuapada Assembly Bypoll: BJP’s Jay Dholkia registers thumping victory by a margin of 83,478 votes
By Nalini Sahu
Bhubaneswar, Nov. 14: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Jay Dholakia on Friday won the high-stakes Nuapada Assembly bypoll in Odisha by defeating Congress’s Ghasiram Majhi by 83,478 votes, signalling a potential breakthrough for the party in a constituency long considered politically sensitive and electorally unpredictable.
Dholakia polled 1,23,869 votes while Majhi got 40,121. The Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) which ruled the state for 24 years — from 2000 to 2024 — finished distant third. The regional party’s candidate Snehangini Chhuria got 38,408 votes.
The BJP campaign was spearheaded by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and party’s state president Mohan Samal.
The by-election, held on November 11 following the demise of sitting MLA Rajendra Dholakia, recorded over 83.45 per cent voter turnout across 358 booths — a clear reflection of the contest’s intensity.
Soon after the result of the bypoll was declared by Chief Electoral Officer, R S Gopalan, celebrations broke out at BJP’s state headquarters in Bhubaneswar and Nuapada.
“People of Nuapada have voted for development. They have seen the delivery of services by the Mohan Charan Majhi government in the past 17 months. We thank the voters of Nuapada and assure that we will honour our promises made to them,” said BJP state president Manmohan Samal.
Dholakia’s victory was widely attributed to a combination of political legacy, strategic campaigning, and opposition missteps. As the son of the late four-time MLA Rajendra Dholakia, he benefited from a strong emotional connect with voters and deep-rooted family networks in the region. The BJP, sensing an opportunity to consolidate its footprint in western Odisha, deployed senior leaders and organisational resources extensively during the final phases of the campaign.
The BJD, on the other hand, faced headwinds over its choice of candidate. Snehangini Chhuria — a former minister and two-time MLA from the erstwhile Dharamgarh constituency — was perceived by a section of voters as an “outsider” in Nuapada, weakening the party’s traditional support base, especially among rural and tribal communities.
For the BJP, the Nuapada bypoll is more than a routine electoral battle; it is an important indicator of the party’s post-2024 trajectory in Odisha, where it unseated the BJD after 24 years of uninterrupted rule. A win here would further cement its growing hold over regions that were once BJD bastions.
Political observers noted that a victory for Dholakia could significantly influence the evolving political narrative in Odisha, especially as parties recalibrate their strategies ahead of the next rural and urban local boy electoral cycles.
