RS polls in Odisha halted briefly over second ballot paper row

Polling for the four Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha was halted for nearly half an hour on Monday (March 16) after a controversy erupted over a BJP MLA’s vote.

The opposition BJD objected to the issuance of a second ballot paper to BJP MLA Upasna Mohapatra. She sought another ballot paper for overwriting the one issued in her name earlier. Later, Mohapatra was allowed to cast her vote, despite an objection from BJD president Naveen Patnaik.

Row over second ballot paper

"The lady MLA from Brahmagiri made a clear mistake while voting. However, the officers present in the voting room, who are in charge, have illegally accepted her vote and issued a second ballot paper.

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"This is completely against democratic norms and a violation of election rules. We strongly object to this. Some of our members have raised the issue, but they are not listening, thereby destroying the democratic election process," Patnaik told reporters.

Ruling BJP MLA Saroj Padhi said, "There is no harm in issuing another ballot paper to a voter. The voter may be provided with the second ballot paper if she has not shown the first paper to the party agent present at the booth. Patnaik does not know the rules of Rajya Sabha elections."

The voting for the four Rajya Sabha seats began at 9 am. Odisha Health and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling was first to cast his ballot, followed by Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari, who returned to Odisha after a treatment in Delhi.

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Patnaik also cast his vote while several MLAs were in the queue to exercise their franchise at the polling booth on the assembly premises.

Candidates in the fray

The BJP has fielded its state party president Manmohan Samal and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar as official candidates and supported former Union minister Dilip Ray as an Independent nominee.

The BJD nominees are party leader Santrupt Misra and eminent urologist Dr Datteswar Hota. The Congress and the CPI(M) are supporting Hota.

BJP, BJD advantage

The voting for the RS polls is being held in the state after 12 years, with five candidates contesting for four seats that will fall vacant on April 2.

In the 147-member Odisha assembly, the BJP has 79 MLAs and the support of three Independents, while the BJD has 48 members after the suspension of two of its legislators on January 15. The Congress has 14 MLAs and CPI(M) one legislator.

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A candidate needs 30 first preference votes to win a Rajya Sabha seat. As the BJP has the support of 82 members, it will have 22 surplus votes after electing its two candidates. Similarly, the BJD will have 18 surplus votes after electing its one candidate.