Bhubaneswar (Odisha): BJD president and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday greeted newly elected first-time BJP MLA Laxman Bag, who defeated him in the recently concluded Assembly polls from Kantabanji seat in Bolangir district.
Patnaik, known for his composed demeanour, was making his way through the House after taking the oath as a member of the Assembly when he came face-to-face with Bag, who stood up from his seat.
"How are you?" Bag inquired with folded hands. As Bag introduced himself, Patnaik responded, "Oh, you defeated me." Accompanied by Aul MLA and former minister Pratap Keshari Deb, Patnaik congratulated Bag.
The entire house including Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and his deputies - KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida - also stood up from their seats to greet Patnaik in the Assembly, where he was an undisputed leader for 24 years. The narrative of Patnaik's defeat was twofold. Not only had he lost his chief minister's chair, held firmly since 2000, but he also faced an unexpected defeat in Kantabanji, which he contested alongside his traditional Hinjili assembly seat.
In Hinjili, Patnaik clung to victory by a slender margin of 4,636 votes. BJP's Bag amassed 90,876 votes against Patnaik's 74,532, securing the seat by 16,334 votes. Bag, 48, confessed his initial doubts about toppling a political titan like Patnaik. "The voters were silent throughout the campaign, but they voted for me," he recounted, still grappling with the magnitude of his victory.
In a poignant scene, many newly elected MLAs were seen prostrating themselves before entering the Assembly building, underscoring the gravity and solemnity of the political shift that had just unfolded.
