Bhubaneswar: The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD Sunday said it will join other Opposition parties to demand a detailed discussion on electoral transparency in the Winter Session of the Parliament.
The Winter Session, which will begin Monday, will conclude December 19. This Winter Session has 15 sittings, which the Opposition has claimed to be the shortest in Parliamentary history.
“There has to be a detailed discussion in the Parliament on the electoral transparency and silence of the Election Commission on the matter. The BJD will join other political parties and hope that the EC come good on it and such issues are discussed, otherwise it is dangerous for democracy,” senior BJD leader Sasmit Patra told PTI after attending an all-party meeting in New Delhi.
“We have recently seen large-scale electoral irregularities in the Nuapada bypoll. The voter turnout in Nuapada was over 80 per cent, which was outrageous. Such a high turnout was never seen in the past,” he claimed.
Patra said the BJD had approached the EC several times on “electoral discrepancies”, which allegedly happened in the 2024 elections.
“However, the EC has been completely silent on it. We want to know how such large voting discrepancies happened in the Lok Sabha and assembly polls in 2024, and also in the recent Nuapada bypoll. We have serious concerns relating to this pattern. All these issues must be discussed in the Parliament,” he said.
The BJD, which ruled Odisha for a record 24 years, lost power to the BJP in last year’s assembly polls that were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections.
The BJD, which is not part of any coalition, has been criticised by other Opposition parties for rescuing the BJP on crucial legislation and elections by providing unconditional support at the national level, even as it opposed it in the state.
The party not only lost the assembly polls, but also failed to win a single Lok Sabha seat last year. It now has seven members in the Rajya Sabha.
Patra also said that the BJD would work towards strengthening federalism in the country.
“We are a regional party and have been focusing on federalism. There is a need to strengthen federalism in the country,” he said.
Patra said the BJD MPs will also raise in the House issues related to inflation, unemployment, the demand for special category state status for Odisha, and rising crimes against women and children in the state.
He said cases of corruption in the state, including the sub-inspector recruitment scam, will be raised in the Parliament.
“The party will also demand quick resolution of the Polavaram and Mahanadi disputes, doubling of the MSP on paddy, revision of coal royalty and establishment of AIIMS in Sambalpur, Koraput and Balasore,” he said.