Bhubaneswar/Balangir, May 17: Senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra, who defeated BJD vice-president A.U. Singh Deo in the Balangir Assembly seat, is slated to be the leader of Opposition in the Assembly.

“He is now the Congress’s seniormost leader, who won the election. In 2004, he had occupied post of the deputy leader of the Congress Legislature Party, when J.B. Patnaik was the leader of Opposition. Now, he is the natural claimant for the coveted post,” said a senior Congress leader.

To get the recognition as main Opposition, a party needs at least one-tenth of the total strength of the 147-member Assembly — which comes to 15, said an Assembly official.

The Congress has one member more than the required strength to get the Opposition status. He further said that in 1990, a piquant situation had emerged when no party had the required number to get the status of the leader of Opposition. At that time, the Congress emerged as the principal Opposition with only 10 members. “However, Biju Patnaik bestowed the leader of Opposition status to the then senior Congress leader, Basant Biswal, and showed his magnanimity,” he said.

By electing Mishra for the first time in 24 years, people of Balangir opted for a “change”. Naveen’s magic that swept the state did not help Singh Deo, who was facing a strong anti-incumbency factor. “The people opted for a change. I will have to work accordingly to change the face of Balangir,” said Mishra.

Describing his victory as the victory of the people of Balangir, Mishra said: “This is not my victory. This is the victory of the people of Balangir. People have elected me to work for the development of the area, and I am committed. I will not follow any party line to work for Balangir’s development,” Mishra said.

Singh Deo, who was elected from the seat five times in a row from 1990 to 2009 and held important portfolios in the cabinet of late Biju Patnaik and Naveen Pattnaik, said: “I have accepted the people’s verdict for the change and congratulated the new MLA.”