In Tight Puri Race, BJP’s Sambit Patra Loses With Less Than 12,000 Vote Margin To BJD’s Pinaki Misra

In an extremely close contest in Odisha’s Puri Lok Sabha constituency, the incumbent from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Pinaki Misra was able to clinch the seat again by beating Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sambit Patra.

The margin of victory was less than 12,000 votes, with Misra receiving 538,321 votes against Patra’s 526,607. Early trends had yesterday (23 May) shown Patra with a slight lead but Misra was able to catch up and retain the seat during the later hours of counting.

However, the BJP has still managed to make major inroads into Odisha, winning eight of the state’s 21 seats, giving tough competition to the BJD whose tally has gone down to 12 from the 20 seats it won in the previous general elections.