Bhubaneswar, May 11: Biju Janata Dal delegation, led by Deputy Leader Prasanna Acharya, on Monday met Odisha Chief Electoral Officer R.S. Gopalan to raise concerns over the alleged illegal issuance of second ballot papers to two BJP MLAs—Brahmagiri’s Upasana Mohapatra and Khallikote’s Purna Chandra Sethy—during the recent Rajya Sabha elections.
The party claimed that despite objections from its polling agents, election officials allowed second ballots, allegedly violating Rule 41 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
BJD president Naveen Patnaik had first flagged the issue during voting and subsequently wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner seeking intervention.
The BJD demanded that votes cast by the two MLAs in favor of BJP candidate Dilip Ray be invalidated, which could secure a win for its candidate Datteswar Hota. The party also called for disclosure of prior complaints, preservation of all relevant records, and an independent inquiry into the matter.
