BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Nuapada bypoll witnessed a record voting of 83.45 per cent, the BJD on Wednesday alleged it was the result of the irregularities resorted to by the BJP ‘to win by hook or by crook’.
BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said the BJP had brought large number of people from Chhattisgarh to cast their votes. Mohanty said from the beginning of the campaign, the BJD had demanded that border between Odisha and Chhattisgarh should be sealed as the both the states are BJP-ruled and the state government will exploit it during the bypoll. Neither the chief electoral officer (CEO), nor the district administration gave any importance to the complaint.
Meanwhile, Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik asserted that despite the irregularities by the ruling BJP, BJD candidate Snehangini Chhuria will win by over a margin of 10,000 votes. She said if the BJP candidate Jay Dholakia wins the bypoll, it will be clear that the ruling party resorted to large-scale irregularities including vote theft.