BJD alleges statutory violations in Odisha RS polls, seeks independent inquiry

Bhubaneswar, May 11 A delegation of the main opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Monday met R.S. Gopalan, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Odisha, over the alleged illegal issuance of second ballot papers to BJP legislators and submitted a memorandum demanding the cancellation of two votes cast by the said MLAs during the recently held Rajya Sabha polls.

The BJD delegation, led by Deputy Leader of the BJD Legislature Party Prasanna Acharya, claimed in the memorandum that second ballot papers were illegally issued to Brahmagiri MLA, Upasana Mohapatra and Kallikote MLA Purna Chandra Sethy after the original ballot papers had already been marked during the Rajya Sabha elections 2026.

The party continued to raise objections, stating that the electors had already marked their original ballot papers before seeking the issuance of second ballot papers. Despite strong objections from the party, the second ballots were issued even though the circumstances did not satisfy the statutory requirements laid down under Rule 41 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.

The BJD also noted that the Election Commission Observer had initially declined permission for the issuance of second ballot papers but subsequently allowed the same, thereby raising serious questions regarding the statutory satisfaction contemplated under Rule 41 and the absence of lawful justification for treating the ballots as “spoilt ballots” under the provisions of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.

“The continuous and multi-level objections by polling agents, election agents, authorised agents, counting agents, candidates, and parliamentary representatives establish beyond doubt that the issue was treated contemporaneously as a grave statutory illegality affecting the sanctity of the election itself,” the party claimed in the memorandum.

While the voting process was going on, the BJD President and Leader of Opposition, Naveen Patnaik, raised the issue before the media, voicing his complaint in this regard.

Later, on March 18, 2026, he formally drew the attention of the Election Commission of India by email addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner. Subsequently, on April 28, 2026, Rajya Sabha MP Dr Sasmit Patra submitted a detailed representation before the Chief Election Commissioner seeking urgent statutory intervention.

Acting on the representation, the ECI instructed the CEO of Odisha to give an appointment to the BJD delegation and hear their grievances.

Praying the CEO, the BJD said in the memorandum, "To reject the two votes of Ms Upasana Mohapatra, MLA Brahmagiri and Shri. Purna Chandra Sethy, MLA Khallikote, given to the RS candidate Dilip Ray and disallow those votes. Therefore, on first preference votes, Dilip Ray ends up below Datteswar Hota, due to which Datteswar Hota must be declared as elected by ECI.”

Apart from this, the party also urged the CEO to disclose the complete action taken on the complaints lodged on March 16, and the email sent on March 18 by the BJD president.

The regional party also demanded the CEO to secure, preserve, and examine all election records related to the incidents, including original cancelled ballot papers, ballot paper accounts, counterfoils, observer reports, polling records, counting proceedings, CCTV footage, video and audio recordings, and official photographs and videography conducted by Election Commission personnel, conduct a detailed, independent, and transparent inquiry into the circumstances under which second ballot papers were issued; determine whether Rule 41 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 was violated.

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