New Delhi: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Monday filed a complaint with the Election Commission claiming “unusual” variances in the votes cast in the 2024 Parliamentary and Assembly elections in Odisha and some other poll data.
A delegation of BJD leaders, including all its Rajya Sabha MPs, went to the Election Commission office here and submitted a memorandum on the issue.
Asked if the BJD, which is not a part of the INDIA bloc, would join other Opposition parties that have been raising concerns over electronic voting machines (EVMs), BJD leader Sasmit Patra said their complaint is not aimed at getting political gains.
“This complaint is above party politics and Opposition versus ruling party…,” Patra said.
The BJD, in its memorandum to the poll panel, claimed that “serious discrepancies” have been found between Form 17-C filled by presiding officers and Form-20 filled by returning officers.
It also claimed that discrepancies were found in the number of votes polled in Assembly constituencies and corresponding 21 Parliamentary constituencies. The variations ranged from 4,056 votes in Dhenkanal to 3,521 votes in Kandhamal and 2701 votes in Bolangir, the party said.
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“This is the first time in the history of Odisha elections, perhaps also in the country, that the reported voting percentage at the close of poll on polling day and final voting percentage after the end of poll reported by ECI after two days saw a difference ranging from 15 per cent to 30 per cent,” the BJD claimed.
Former MP and BJD leader Amar Patnaik told reporters that their memorandum is aimed at improving the transparency of the election process in the country.
“We are bringing out these discrepancies before the Election Commission to highlight that people of this country, the citizens of our state of Odisha, have tremendous confidence in the Election Commission for conducting free and fair elections,” Patnaik said.
Asked if the BJD felt the EVMs were to be blamed for the discrepancies, Patnaik said, “These differences could be arising either out of machine error, or out of manual error, or out of a process error, or a combination of both, or a combination of all”.
Patnaik added that the poll panel assured them that the complaint would be investigated and the party would be invited again for discussion.
BJD was a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) till 2009. The party, which has seven MPs in the Rajya Sabha, was routed in the recent parliamentary and Assembly polls.
Naveen Patnaik-led BJD has maintained that it will serve as a “strong and vibrant” Opposition in Parliament.
The Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) had raised questions on the EVMs’ working and claimed discrepancies in poll data after their opposition alliance was defeated in the recent Maharashtra polls, but the EC had rebutted their claims.
PTI
