Bhubaneswar, May 11: A delegation from the main opposition party, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), met with Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) R.S. Gopalan on Monday. This meeting was in response to allegations regarding the illegal issuance of a second ballot paper to BJP legislators. The delegation submitted a memorandum requesting the annulment of the two votes cast by these legislators during the recent Rajya Sabha elections.
Led by BJD’s deputy leader of the legislative party, Prasanna Acharya, the memorandum claims that during the 2026 Rajya Sabha elections, even after marks had already been made on the original ballot paper, Brahmagiri MLA Upasana Mohapatra and Kalikote MLA Purna Chandra Sethi were unlawfully issued a second ballot paper.
The party has consistently raised objections, stating that voters had already marked their original ballot papers before the demand for a second ballot was made. Despite the party’s strong objections, the second ballot papers were issued, failing to meet the legal requirements outlined in Rule 41 of the Election Conduct Rules, 1961.
BJD also noted that the election commission’s observer initially denied permission for the issuance of second ballot papers but later granted it. This raises serious questions about the legal justification for considering these ballot papers as ‘spoilt’ under Rule 41 and the provisions of the Election Conduct Rules, 1961.
The memorandum asserts that the continuous objections raised by polling agents, election agents, authorized agents, counting agents, candidates, and parliamentary representatives clearly indicate that this issue was viewed as a significant legal irregularity at the time, affecting the sanctity of the election itself.
While the voting process was underway, BJD president and opposition leader Naveen Patnaik raised this issue in front of the media and filed a complaint regarding it. Later, on March 18, he formally brought this matter to the attention of the Election Commission of India (ECI) through an email addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner. Subsequently, on April 28, Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Sasmit Patra presented a detailed memorandum to the Chief Election Commissioner, demanding immediate legal intervention.
In response to this memorandum, the ECI instructed Odisha’s CEO to schedule a meeting with the BJD delegation and listen to their grievances.
In their appeal to the CEO, BJD requested that the two votes cast for Rajya Sabha candidate Dilip Ray by Brahmagiri MLA Upasana Mohapatra and Kalikote MLA Purna Chandra Sethi be rejected and declared invalid. Based on first preference votes, Dilip Ray falls behind Datteshwar Hota, leading the ECI to declare Datteshwar Hota as elected.
Additionally, the party urged the CEO to publicly disclose the complete actions taken regarding the complaints lodged on March 16 and the email sent by BJD president on March 18.
This regional party also demanded that the CEO preserve and secure all election records related to these incidents and conduct a detailed, independent, and transparent investigation into the circumstances under which the second ballots were issued, determining whether there was a violation of Rule 41 of the Election Conduct Rules, 1961. These records should include the original cancelled ballots, ballot counts, counterfoils, observer reports, voting records, counting proceedings, CCTV footage, video and audio recordings, and official photography and videography conducted by election commission staff.
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