Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], March 16 : Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly (LoP), Naveen Patnaik, on Monday, alleged irregularities during voting for the Rajya Sabha elections, claiming that election norms were violated after a legislator was issued a second ballot paper.
Speaking to ANI, Naveen Patnaik said that the MLA from the Brahmagiri Assembly constituency had made an error while casting her vote. Patnaik alleged that the polling officer accepted the vote despite the mistake and subsequently issued a second ballot paper, which he claimed was against election rules. The Brahmagiri Assembly constituency is currently represented by Upasna Mohapatra, although Patnaik referred to her only as the MLA of Brahmagiri without naming her.
"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 further stated that his party had strongly objected to the action but alleged that their concerns were not being addressed by the officials overseeing the election process.
"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. With polling currently underway, the counting of votes is scheduled to begin at 5 PM today.
The term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected.
Out of these, 26 candidates have already secured victory unopposed. Voting will now take place for the remaining 11 seats, including four from Odisha, five from Bihar, and two from Haryana.
The results will be out today.