Balasore Lok Sabha Constituency: BJP's Pratap Chandra Sarangi Secures A Second Term (image:facebook.com/pcsodisha)

Pratap Chandra Sarangi one again secures Balasore Lok Sabha constituency for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He is the leading candidate in the constituency. Sarangi obtained a grand total of  3,88,179 votes, surpassing his opponents by a margin of 1,15,882 votes. Lekhasri Samantsinghar from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) secured the runner-up position with 2,85,725 votes. Shrikanta Jena, the candidate from the Indian National Congress (INC), secured the third position in the constituency with 1,48,421 votes.

Sarangi has served as the Minister of State in the Government of India for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, as well as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Sarangi is a National Executive member of the BJP. He has been elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly twice, from 2004 to 2009 and from 2009 to 2014, representing the Nilgiri constituency. He contested 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Balasore Lok Sabha constituency as a BJP candidate. Although he lost in 2014, he emerged victorious in 2019, defeating the BJD candidate and sitting MP, Rabindra Kumar Jena, by a margin of 12,956 votes.

In the 2014 elections, BJP candidate Pratap Sarangi had lost to Rabindra Jena by a margin of 1,41,825 votes. The 2009 elections had witnessed Congress’ Srikant Kumar Jena emerging victorious after he beat NCP’s Arun Dey by a narrow margin.

(This story is part of a Timeline. internship project.)