Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: A delegation of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Monday met the Election Commission of India and submitted a memorandum complaining “unusual” variances in the votes cast in the 2024 Parliamentary and Assembly elections in Odisha.
The delegation comprising all BJD Rajya Sabha MPs claimed that “serious discrepancies” have been found between Form 17-C filled by presiding officers and Form-20 filled by returning officers.
The discrepancies were found in the number of votes polled in assembly constituencies and corresponding 21 parliamentary constituencies. The variations ranged from 4,056 votes in Dhenkanal to 3,521 votes in Kandhamal and 2701 votes in Balangir.
From the available information, we found a difference of 682 votes between the two forms in a booth in Kandhamal Parliamentary constituency. Similar discrepancies were also found in Sundargarh constituency. For a pan-India analysis, our candidates made representations to the returning officers to furnish them copy of form 17 (C) Part 1 and 2, but are yet to receive them, the BJD alleged.
Talking to reporters, former MP and senior BJD leader Amar Patnaik said that the memorandum is aimed at improving the transparency of the election process in the country.
The BJD leader said that this variance raises questions on the integrity of the poll process.
“We had expected the use of EVMs to lessen these discrepancies or bring them to a naught as compared to manual voting. Such huge difference raises alarm as it can impact the results,” he said.
“This is for first time in the history Odisha elections and perhaps also in the country, the reported voting percentage after the end the polls at 5 pm and that final voting percentage mentioned by the EC after two days, saw a difference ranging from 15-30 per cent in 50 of 147 Assembly constituencies. This variation was 15-20 per cent in 30 Assembly constituencies and 20-25 per cent in 10 seats. In two Assembly segments – Kantamal and Keonjhar,- the variation was the highest at 28.69 per cent and 30.64 per cent, respectively,” he said.
Earlier, it would be around 0-2 per cent, he added.
“The Keonjhar seat from where Chief Minister Mohan Majhi was elected saw the highest variance. If you took 11.45 pm as the cutoff point to take into account the people who were waiting to cast their votes, the difference still was 10 per cent. This requires a serious analysis and inquiry since there have a visible improvement in the mode of communication including internet facilities and we have sought the same from the EC,” he said.
“We are bringing out these discrepancies before the Election Commission to highlight that people of this country, the citizens of our state of Odisha, have tremendous confidence in the Election Commission for conducting free and fair elections,” the senior BJD leader added.