DIBRUGARH, May 23 - In one of the biggest wins waiting for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Rameswar Teli in terms of margin, the saffron brigade is destined to retain the Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seat for the second time.
It needs to be mentioned here that Teli had predicted on the day of filing nominations that he would emerge victorious with almost the double margin than last election. He had won by a margin of 185347 votes in 2014.� In this election he gained about 648187 votes, while the veteran Congress leader Paban Singh Ghatowar obtained about 291176 votes.���
Teli thanked the people of the constituency for reposing their trust in him and the BJP party. �I sincerely thank the people for giving a huge mandate for the second consecutive term. I will continue to carry forward the development works initiated by Narendra Modi led BJP government for the people of the constituency. This massive support means that people are happy with the works, the governance and policies of the BJP led government,� he said. Elated Teli also led a huge procession from the counting centre- Government Boys High School to the main town as a mark of celebration in the evening.
�Accepting the defeat, Ghatowar said that the Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was successful in generating yet another �Modi wave� across the country.
��I accept the defeat because it is ultimately the decision of the people. The people have extended support to the BJP candidates immensely, and it is their free choice, which I respect it,� said the veteran Congress leader. He also extended congratulations to Rameswar Teli and wished him the best for his next five- year term.
Insiders say that this third consecutive defeat of Ghatowar could put an end to his career in active politics. Ghatowar lost to Teli in 2014 Lok Sabha polls and later in 2016 to BJP�s MLA Chakradhar Gogoi of Moran as an MLA candidate for Moran LAC. He was five-time MP of Dibrugarh in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2009.� In 2004, he had lost the seat to the then AGP candidate Sarbananda Sonowal. �������
Altogether eight candidates were in fray for Dibrugarh Lok Sabha polls. The other candidates in contest could not even garner 10,000 votes. Interestingly, NOTA button stood the second runners up with 20968 hits. The total vote cast in Dibrugarh Lok Sabha polls stood at 10,13, 821. In all 1444votes were collected through Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballots System (ETPBS) and 2238 votes were received by postal ballots.
At the time of filing of this report, counting of VVPAT slips of five randomly selected VVPATs of Polling Station was underway.
