BJD flags "discrepancies" in Odisha poll statistics and petitions EC
The differences are 660 and 784 in Booth No. 165 and Booth No. 219 of 08-Talsara (ST) AC under Sundargarh PC, respectively. According to the BJD's petition (File Photo),
In a memo submitted to the election commission on Monday, a group of BJD leaders noted that there was occasionally "a difference in the total votes polled in a booth and the total votes counted from the same EVM" during the state's most recent elections.There are significant differences that we have observed. For instance, this discrepancy is 682 in Booth No. 57 of 84-Phulbani (ST) AC under Kandhamal PC. The differences are 660 and 784 in Booth No. 165 and Booth No. 219 of 08-Talsara (ST) AC under Sundargarh PC, respectively. According to the BJD's appeal."How is this even possible? This shouldn't be the case because the Returning Officer's total vote count cannot differ from the Presiding Officer's report of votes cast," it stated, adding that the party had requested copies of Form 17(C) for every district but had not yet received them.
Despite the lok sabha and assembly elections being held at the same time, the BJD also pointed out a discrepancy in the number of votes cast. "The variation ranges from 4,056 votes in Dhenkanal PC to 3,521 votes in Kandhamal PC and 2,701 votes in Bolangir PC," according to the BJD petition.In an attempt to determine whether voters were still casting ballots at 11:45 p.m., the party also pointed out a "huge difference" between the final data that were released two days later and the vote percentage that was disclosed by the ec at that time.
The party asked the ec to take the issue seriously and address all of its concerns in the sake of transparency for the good of democracy, without addressing whether the issue lay with the machine, the procedure, or the manual.Members of the delegation amar patnaik and rajya sabha MP Sasmit Patra were asked if this indicated that the BJD was in agreement with the Opposition india bloc, which has expressed concerns about EVMs and the discrepancy between the EC's final figures and the real-time voter turnout. They responded that the party had evaluated the documents independently. They said that the BJD memorandum was unrelated to the demands of the india bloc.