Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal on Monday demanded the rejection of two votes cast by BJP MLAs Upasana Mohapatra and Purna Chandra Sethy in favour of Dilip Ray in Odisha Rajya Sabha election held in March, this year.
The regional party has been raising serious objections over the alleged issuance of second ballot papers by the officers present in the voting room, who were in charge of the biennial polls.
A delegation of the opposition BJD met Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) R S Gopalan in Bhubaneswar and submitted a lengthy memorandum, and termed the votes cast by Mohapatra and Sethy, MLAs from Brahmagiri and Khallikote respectively.
After rejecting these two votes, Dilip Ray falls below BJD candidate Datteswar Hota on first preference votes, the BJD claimed in its memorandum, and demanded that Datteswar Hota be declared elected to the upper house of Parliament by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The regional party alleged illegal issuance of second ballot papers to the two MLAs during the Rajya Sabha elections 2026, calling it a grave violation of election rules.
While demanding rejection of the two disputed votes and declaration of Datteswar Hota as winner, the BJD also sought full disclosure of action taken by the Commission on its complaints dated March 16 and the email sent by party president Naveen Patnaik on March 18.
The opposition also sought steps to preserve and examine all critical evidence including cancelled ballot papers, CCTV footage, video & audio recordings, and observer reports.
The BJD demanded immediate steps to conduct a detailed, independent and transparent inquiry and determine whether Rule 41 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 was violated. The delegation sought all necessary legal and statutory action.
It may be noted that the CEO met the delegation of BJD over the alleged illegal issuance of a second ballot paper to legislators, Upasana Mohapatra and Purna Chandra Sethy, following a communication from the ECI to give an urgent appointment with the regional party’s team to examine the matter.
As per the instructions of Naveen Patnaik, senior party leader and MP Sasmit Patra had on April 28 submitted a representation to the ECI regarding the issue, officials said.
Subsequently, Odisha CEO scheduled a meeting with the BJD delegation on May 11.
The delegation was led by Prasanna Acharya, deputy leader of the BJD Legislature Party in the Odisha Assembly. The delegation included Pramila Mallik, party Chief Whip, as well as polling agent for the Rajya Sabha elections; deputy chief whip of the BJD and party-authorised agent Pratap Deb; Arun Kumar Sahoo, MLA and counting agent for the Rajya Sabha polls; and Sasmit Patra, BJD MP and counting agent for the Rajya Sabha elections.
