Polling interrupted after BJP candidate ‘vandalises’ EVM in Odisha

He had an argument with polling officials, following which he allegedly vandalised the EVM and left. He was chased by the police and his vehicle, in which BJP’s Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha candidate Aparajita Sarangi was also present, was intercepted.

Jagadev, who has made news for his unruly conduct in the past too, has been detained at Begunia police station. The BJP candidate, however, denied the allegations against him and sat on dharna inside the police station. He claimed the EVM got damaged after it accidentally fell on the ground.

Alleging that he was being framed, Jagadev demanded to examine the CCTV footage inside the polling booth.

Both Khurda and Begunia assembly constituencies fall under the Bhubaneswar parliamentary constituency.

Chief electoral officer Nikunja Bihari Dhal said an investigation will be conducted and action will be taken against those responsible. “The control unit of the EVM was damaged in the incident following which we have changed it. Voting is continuing in the booth,” said Dhal.

Jagadev, 55, is currently the MLA of Chilka assembly segment. Though he won on a BJD ticket in 2019, the ruling party had first suspended him in September 2021 for allegedly beating a BJP worker in public. He was later expelled.

Jagadev, who had also won from the Begunia seat in 2014, had allegedly rammed his SUV into a large crowd comprising BJP workers outside a block development office in Chilka constituency in March 2022. The incident left 22 persons, including seven police personnel, injured, following which the crowd assaulted Jagadev. He was also arrested following the incident.

During his first term as an MLA, Jagadev made news when a video of him allegedly thrashing a group of BJP activists for showing black flags to BJD leaders in Boudh district went viral. In November 2016, Jagadev was accused of assaulting a woman tehsildar when she was trying to clear encroachment from government land.

The expelled BJD leader joined the BJP in March, ahead of the simultaneous polls. In his election affidavit, Jagadev has declared 11 cases against him, though he has not been convicted in any.

The ruling BJD, in a memorandum submitted before the CEO, demanded stern action against Jagadev.