Bhubaneswar: BJP candidate from Kantabanji Laxman Bag emerged as the giant killer by defeating Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who had never lost an election ever since he was elected as a member of the 11th Lok Sabha in the by-election from Aska Parliamentary Constituency in 1998.
Bag defeated Patnaik by a margin of 16321 votes. While Bag has polled 90,594 votes, Patnaik has polled 74,273 votes.
Bag had lost to Santosh Singh Saluja by a slender margin of only 128 votes in 2019.
A 10th pass from the National Institute of Open Schooling Allahabad in 2013 Bag had polled 64118, while Saluja polled 64,246 votes in 2019 from Kantabanji Assembly Constituency in Bolangir district.
Bag has declared his profession as a farmer and has 12 criminal cases against his name as per his self-sworn affidavit submitted at the time of filing nomination.
