BJD demands rejection of two illegal votes in Rajya Sabha election; Urges ECI to declare Datteswar Hota as winner

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Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today submitted a memorandum to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Odisha R.S. Gopalan and strongly demanded the rejection of two illegal votes casted in favour of Independent candidate Dilip Ray, who was also supported by BJP, during the recent Rajya Sabha (RS) elections.

A BJD delegation of senior party leaders including Deputy Leader of the BJD Legislature Party Prasanna Acharya, Pramila Mallik, Pratap Keshari Deb and Arun Sahoo submitted the memorandum and demanded the cancellation of two illegal votes casted by Brahmagiri MLA Upasana Mohapatra and Khallikote MLA Purna Chandra Sethy in favour of Dilip Ray during the recent Rajya Sabha election.

BJD alleged illegal issuance of second ballot papers to the two MLAs during the Rajya Sabha elections 2026, is a grave violation of election rules.

If these two votes are rejected, Dilip Ray will fall below BJD candidate Datteswar Hota on first preference votes, which is why BJD demanded that Hota be declared elected by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

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The conch party also demanded full disclosure of action taken on BJD’s complaints dated 16 March 2026 and the email sent by Naveen Patnaik on 18 March 2026, preserve and examine all critical evidence including cancelled ballot papers, CCTV footage, video & audio recordings, observer reports, etc. and conduct a detailed, independent and transparent inquiry.

Determine whether Rule 41 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 was violated and take all necessary legal and statutory action, BJD demanded.

Also Read: Pregnant Woman In Hinjili Threatened Before Media, Then Murdered: BJD Leader Ranjita Sahoo

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