Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has scheduled a meeting with a delegation of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on May 11 to discuss allegations of irregularities during the Rajya Sabha elections held on March 16, an official communication said on Tuesday.
According to a letter issued by Joint CEO Gopinath Kuanr to Sasmit Patra, the BJD delegation has been invited to meet the CEO at 11:00 am on the scheduled date to deliberate on concerns raised earlier by the party. The issues pertain to an email submitted by the BJD on March 18 alleging procedural violations during the polling process.
The controversy centres on claims that two legislators of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were issued a second ballot paper during voting. The MLAs named in the complaint are Upasana Mohapatra and Purna Chandra Sethi.
Earlier, on April 28, Patra had written to Gyanesh Kumar, seeking intervention and alleging that the conduct of the polls was compromised due to the issuance of duplicate ballot papers.
Following this, Rajendra Kumar Singh, in a communication dated April 29, requested the Odisha CEO to arrange an urgent meeting with the BJD delegation to examine the matter.
In response, the CEO’s office scheduled the May 11 meeting.
Meanwhile, the BJD has constituted a five-member team to present its case. The delegation will be led by Prasanna Acharya, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Odisha Assembly. Other members include Pramila Mallik, Pratap Keshari Deb, Arun Kumar Sahoo, and Patra.
In a statement, the party reiterated its demand for immediate statutory action over the alleged irregularities and called for a fair and transparent inquiry to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process.
