BARIPADA: The opposition BJP has demanded re-polling in Ward No 6 and 7 here as they allege that workers of the ruling BJD tried to frisk away unsealed electronic voting machines (EVMs) on Thursday. The road between Balasore Golei and Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital remained disrupted for several hours after irate BJP workers stopped traffic by burning a tyre on the middle of the road. Fagu Hansdah, a BJP worker said that two BJD workers in presence of police and other electoral officials tried to take away unsealed EVMs from booth No 16 and 17.
“We caught two BJD workers with the EVM machines while they were trying to take them away. We also confirmed that they sneaked out the machines in the presence of officials and police inside the booths,” he said. Hansdah demanded the election officer and district administration to conduct re-polling in both these wards. Contacted, election officer for Baripada Municipality, Basanta Sethy said he had sent Baripada Tehsildar to take stock of the situation, and steps will be taken after he submits the report. A day before the polling, videos of BJD workers allegedly distributing money to people of Ward No 17 and Ward No 20 had gone viral and there was strong protest over the matter.