'Oh, you defeated me', Naveen Patnaik tells BJP MLA in Odisha assembly
Bhubaneswar, Jun 18: 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.
#WATCH : The candid moment was captured when Bag stood up after seeing Naveen Patnaik entering the House and gave his introduction. In his reply, Patnaik said, “Oh You defeated me" and his extended wishes. BJP's Laxman Bag defeated BJD's Naveen Patnaik by over 16,000 votes.… pic.twitter.com/1iFezUk6za
— upuknews (@upuknews1) June 18, 2024
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Stalin urges Centre to rollback commercial LPG price hike
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday demanded that the Centre immediately rollback the hike in commercial LPG cylinder prices. The price of commercial LPG was hiked by the steepest ever Rs 993 per 19-kg cylinder on May 1, marking the third straight monthly increase due to rising global energy prices linked to the West Asia conflict.
In his social media X platform, the DMK chief alleged that as predicted before the polls, the BJP-led union government has raised LPG prices immediately after the elections concluded.
"When global crude oil prices fell, the benefits were not passed on to the people, " he said, accusing the Centre of "using the West Asia war crisis as an excuse to raise the prices without regard for public welfare".
Calling for protection of the livelihood of the people, Stalin demanded an immediate rollback of the LPG price hike.
He asked the Centre to consider the people's suffering and find solutions.
