– Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: Six months after its defeat in Odisha Assembly and parliamentary elections, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), led by former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, has filed a petition with Election Commission of India (ECI), citing serious discrepancies in the conduct of the elections. The petition highlights three major concerns and questions the credibility of EVMs, which the party claims contributed to its loss to BJP.
Despite securing a higher vote share than BJP in the Assembly elections – 40.22% compared to BJP’s 40.07% –BJD lost significantly, winning only 51 of the 147 Assembly seats compared to BJP’s 78. This marked end of the BJD’s 24-year rule in Odisha. Also, BJP dominated the Lok Sabha elections in the state, winning 20 of 21 seats, leaving BJD with none.
“It appears these discrepancies played a role in our defeat. This needs to be examined thoroughly,” said Naveen Patnaik.
For the first time, Patnaik has endorsed a return to paper ballots, aligning with INDIA alliance’s call for their restoration amid ongoing protests against EVMs. “We support the return of paper ballots,” he affirmed.
According to the Indian Express, BJD’s petition is backed by 200 pages of data and analysis, outlining
discrepancies between total votes cast at polling stations and votes counted from EVMs, unexplained differences in vote counts for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, and significant discrepancies between voter turnout reported on polling day and final figures announced two days later.
The BJD’s analysis points to potential EVM errors, manual mistakes, or procedural lapses – or a combination of these.
“Without casting any aspersions, we would like to say these discrepancies are serious in nature and undermine the conduct of free and fair elections,” the petition stated.
In Assembly constituencies won by BJP – such as Phulbani, Talsara, Ekamra-Bhubaneswar, Titlagarh, Sambalpur, and Balasore – discrepancies ranged from 1 to 784 votes per booth.
“The total votes counted cannot differ from the votes polled, especially with EVMs. Such variations could potentially alter election outcomes,” said Amar Patnaik, BJD leader and former Rajya Sabha MP.
In Keonjhar, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s constituency, voter turnout increased by 30.64 percentage points between the end of polling and the final figures. Similarly, in Kantamal, turnout rose by nearly 10 percentage points between late-night announcements on election day and the final tally. Majhi defeated BJD candidate in Keonjhar by a margin of 11,577 votes.
“This unprecedented variance in voter turnout is a first in Odisha’s electoral history and possibly in India,” Amar Patnaik noted.
Amar Patnaik explained that the delay in filing the petition was due to challenges in gathering and consolidating data. Despite repeated requests, district authorities failed to provide all copies of Form 17C, which documents voter turnout at polling stations.
“We used whatever Form 17C copies were available, and district collectors later promised to provide the remaining data after consulting the Chief Electoral Officer,” he said.
The petition, submitted on December 24, is yet to receive a response from the ECI. “If we don’t get a reply, we will approach the EC again,” said Sasmit Patra, BJD’s Rajya Sabha floor leader.
Following the filing of the petition, the BJP defended ECI and dismissed the allegations. Naveen Patnaik, however, responded with a jibe: “I don’t know why the BJP is so defensive about EVMs. Nobody has accused them of wrongdoing yet.”
The BJD’s concerns, coupled with the INDIA alliance’s protests, have reignited debates over EVM reliability and electoral transparency in India.
