Report by Kahnu Nanda, Jagatsinghpur: The Dhinkia Swabhiman Mancha candidate Pinki Das was elected as the new Sarpanch of Dhinkia Gram Panchayat after the counting of votes was held in Erasama block office on Saturday.
Pinki defeated her rival BJD-supported candidate Santilata Behera by a huge margin in 1048 votes, Pinki pooled 2928 votes and Santilata scored 1880 votes, however, BJP-backed candidate Basanti Khatua remained in third position securing 1840 votes, apart from a total of 6648 valid votes calculated during counting.
The election for the Dhinkia Panchayat comprising 23 wards was held on October 04, the election had conveyed significance for the state ruling party BJP and BJD, especially prestige issue for state minister cum Paradeep legislator Sampad Swain and MP Bibhuprasad Tarai as well as Erasama BJD MLA Sarada Jena.
Both parties had made extensive poll campaigning during the election but lost the confidence of local voters, who preferred Pinki Das candidate of Dhinkia Swabhiman Mancha a local outfit fighting for the anti-industry movement in Erasama block since 2022.
Sources informed that Mancha leader Devendra Swain who had been arrested during an anti-JSW agitation in the year 2022 performed a vital role in the present Sarpanch election, due to his efforts and support from the village Congress unit Pinki Das elected as the new Sarpanch of Dhinkia Panchayat. [Ends]
