Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly, Naveen Patnaik, alleged irregularities during voting for the Rajya Sabha elections on Monday, claiming that election procedures were breached after a legislator was issued a second ballot paper.
Patnaik told ANI that the MLA from the Brahmagiri Assembly constituency had made an error while casting her vote. He said the polling officer accepted the vote despite the mistake and subsequently issued a second ballot paper, which he described as a violation of election rules. Although Patnaik did not name the MLA, the Brahmagiri seat is held by Upasna Mohapatra.
“The MLA of Brahmagiri had made a clear mistake while voting. But the officer sitting in the voting room who is in charge of this has illegally accepted her vote and has issued a second ballot paper. This is totally against the democratic norms and a violation of election rules,” Patnaik said.
He added that his party had strongly objected to the action, but alleged that officials overseeing the election process had not addressed their concerns.
“We are objecting to it strongly, but they are not listening, thereby totally destroying the democratic election process,” the BJD leader added.
Voting for the Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha is currently underway, with members of the Odisha Legislative Assembly casting their votes to elect representatives to the Upper House of Parliament. The biennial Rajya Sabha elections are being held to fill 37 seats across 10 states.
Counting of votes is scheduled to begin at 5 PM on Monday. The term of 37 members elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will end in April, creating vacancies for new members.
Among these, 26 candidates have already been elected unopposed. Voting will take place for the remaining 11 seats, including four from Odisha, five from Bihar, and two from Haryana. Results are expected later on Monday.