BHUBANESWAR : Eight months after approaching the Election Commission of India (ECI) alleging large-scale irregularities in 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Odisha, the BJD on Monday announced that it will move the Orissa High Court on the issue as no steps have been initiated by the poll body to satisfactorily address its concerns.
Former party MPs Amar Patnaik and Sarmistha Sethi along with Pattamundai MLA Dhruba Charan Sahu told mediapersons that BJD had drawn the attention of ECI to three major discrepancies.
They alleged that the number of votes counted in all the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies was more than the votes in the EVMs. Citing some examples, Patnaik said at booth number 57 of Phulbani Assembly constituency under Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat, the difference was 682. Similarly, in booth numbers 165 and 219 of Talsara Assembly segment under Sundargarh parliamentary constituency, the difference was 660 and 784 respectively. “This is more less than true in a majority of booths,” he said.
The second was a visible difference in votes polled in a Lok Sabha constituency and the seven Assembly segments within it.
The discrepancies ranged from 4,056 votes in Dhenkanal to 3,521 votes in Kandhamal and 2,701 votes in Balangir, according to their memorandum.
The third issue raised was 15 to 30 per cent of the polling in different Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies was recorded after the scheduled closure of the voting time. The BJD had submitted a memoramdum to the ECI in this regard on December 19, 2024, urging explanation on the issues and concerns raised by the party.
BJD demands independent audit of voting in Odisha
It had demanded that ECI should conduct an independent audit of the voting process in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha. Besides, it had also demanded that form 17 C should be provided to the candidates after the election results were out. But the poll panel is yet to provide the form, the leaders alleged.
They said the state Congress has also raised the issue following the allegations of ‘vote theft’ made by Rahul Gandhi recently.
The BJD leaders alleged that as the ECI has failed to address issues on transparency of the election process in Odisha, the party will move the Orissa High Court soon seeking redressal of its grievances.