Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday Congratulations to newly elected BJP MLA Laxman Baig.who had defeated the former chief minister from the Kantabanji seat in the recently concluded Odisha assembly elections.
Patnaik After taking the oath, he was walking in the house. As an assembly member when he saw the bag. BJP MLAs rose from their seats to welcome the senior leader.
“How are you?” Baig folded his hands and asked Patnaik.
Responding to the first-time BJP MLA, Patnaik said, “Oh, you beat me”.
Along with All MLA and former Odisha minister Pratap Keshri Deb, Patnaik congratulated Baig for his victory in the assembly elections.
He was the former Chief Minister at that time. He was welcomed by his successor, Mohan Charan Majhi..
All other MLAs, including two Deputy Chief Ministers – KV Singh Dev and Pravati Pareda – rose from their seats to welcome Naveen Patnaik in the Assembly, where he was an undisputed leader for 24 years.
Baig defeated Naveen Patnaik. By a margin of 16,000 votes. In the assembly elections, 77-year-old Patnaik contested from Kantabanji and his traditional seat Hanjeli in Ganjam district.
While Patnaik lost the Kanta Bunji seat, he clung to victory in Hanjeli by a narrow margin of 4,636 votes.
Notably, BJP's Baig secured 90,876 votes while Patnaik's 74,532 votes won the Kantabanji seat by 16,334 votes.
In Odisha, BJP won 78 assembly seats and secured majority.It is followed by BJD (51), Congress (14), CPIM (1) and Azad (3). In the 147-member Odisha Assembly, 82 members are first-time MLAs.
While Majhi is the Leader of the House, Patnaik is expected to be unanimously elected as the Leader of the Opposition (LOP).
I tune