Both BJD and BJP asserted confidence in winning the Nuapada by-election, which saw a high voter turnout of 83.45 per cent.
The BJP dismissed the allegations as baseless, saying the BJD was preparing excuses for its impending defeat.
A day after polling in the Nuapada by-election in Odisha sealed the fate of 14 candidates in EVMs, both the ruling BJP and the opposition BJD on Wednesday claimed confidence in their respective victories.
The Congress, meanwhile, alleged large-scale “vote chori” in Nuapada, though its candidate Ghasiram Majhi maintained that he was confident of winning. The bypoll recorded an impressive voter turnout of 83.45 per cent.
At a press conference, senior BJD leaders — Opposition Chief Whip Pramila Mallik, Political Affairs Committee member Tukuni Sahu, and student wing president Ipsita Sahu — asserted that party candidate Snehangini Chhuria would win despite alleged “all-out efforts by the BJP to mislead the voters.”
“We expect that the winning margin will be around 10,000. However, we are not sure because the ruling party had brought a truckload of EVMs from Ganjam district a day before voting. They might have replaced the original EVMs,” Mallik claimed.
She added that the party had already drawn the Chief Electoral Officer’s attention to multiple model code violations allegedly committed by the BJP, including the distribution of saris and cash among women voters. Mallik further alleged that police raids targeted BJD leaders before polling and that opposition leader Naveen Patnaik’s helicopter was “deliberately delayed for three hours.”
According to Mallik, BJP leaders stayed back in the constituency during the silence period and “distributed money among voters,” while also “campaigning inside polling booths” on election day, despite complaints filed with evidence.
She asserted that despite these alleged violations, “the people of Nuapada have expressed their unwavering support to the BJD.”
Tukuni Sahu accused the BJP of “crossing all limits” in its misuse of government machinery to influence the poll. “Government employees engaged in the election work were behaving like BJP agents,” she claimed.
“There was a complaint that any button pressed during voting on the EVM in booth number 250 would vote for lotus, and there was a commotion there. But that too was suppressed. The claim of free and fair elections in the Nuapada by-election turned into a farce,” Sahu said.
Rejecting these allegations, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said, “BJD leaders are now rehearsing on what to say after the defeat on November 14. BJP candidate Jay Dholakia will win the polls with an impressive margin.”
BJP state president Manmohan Samal added that the BJD should “learn to accept the people’s verdict.”
“They have been rejected by people in the 2024 general elections and now the voters of Nuapada will also take similar action. They are making allegations without any basis,” Samal said.
(with PTI inputs)
