BJD moves EC, flags ‘discrepancies’ in poll data in Odisha

“How is this possible? This should not be the case as the total number of votes counted by the Returning Officer cannot vary from the report of votes polled by the Presiding Officer,” it said, adding the party had asked for copies of Form 17 (C) for all districts but still did not get it.

The BJD also flagged a difference in the votes cast for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections despite the polls having been held simultaneously. “The variation ranges from 4,056 votes in Dhenkanal PC to 3,521 votes in Kandhamal PC and 2,701 votes in Bolangir PC,” the BJD petition said.

The party also flagged a “huge difference” in the vote percentage revealed by the EC at 11.45 pm on the polling day and the final figures that came out two days later, seeking to know whether people were still voting at 11.45 pm.

Not going into whether the problem was in the machine, in the process, or the manual, the party requested the EC to take up the matter seriously and respond to all its points in the interest of transparency for the benefit of democracy.

Asked if this meant that the BJD was on the same page as the Opposition INDIA bloc, which has raised concerns over EVMs as well as the difference in the real-time voter turnout and the EC’s final figures, members of the delegation Amar Patnaik and Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra said the party had independently assessed the documents. The BJD memorandum had nothing to do with the INDIA bloc’s demands, they said.