Bhubaneswar, Feb 3 (NationPress) The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) are embroiled in a heated exchange regarding the integrity and reliability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

During a press conference held here on Monday, BJD officials claimed that despite having approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) on two occasions and submitting written complaints about alleged irregularities in the 2024 elections, numerous critical questions remain unresolved.

Santrupt Misra, a senior leader and political secretary to Naveen Patnaik, the BJD president, stated that the party is raising these concerns not for political gain but as a responsible entity dedicated to upholding democracy.

He asserted that inconsistencies were noted in various locations between the votes cast and the votes counted, which led the BJD to request copies of Form 17C, which contains detailed data on booth-wise voting.

However, the ECI refused to release these documents, indicating that there are ongoing election-related disputes in some constituencies.

Misra questioned why Form 17C could not be shared for other constituencies when there are pending cases in only 28 seats.

He demanded clarification on cases where the number of counted votes surpassed the votes cast.

The BJD pointed out that while the ECI mentioned votes are not counted if the figures in the control unit do not align with Form 17C, it did not specify how many such instances occurred.

Misra argued that preventing a citizen's vote from being counted due to administrative mistakes infringes upon voting rights.

He further noted that when defective EVMs are replaced during polling, no information is disclosed about the votes cast prior to the malfunction.

He also raised concerns regarding the unexpected surge in vote counts after the official polling end time of 5 p.m.

In the 2024 elections, all 21 Parliamentary and 38 Assembly constituencies in Odisha experienced a 7 to 30 percent increase in vote counts, a phenomenon not observed in previous elections.

In response, the BJP criticized the BJD, asserting that after being rejected by the electorate in Odisha, BJD leaders are making unfounded claims to mask their disappointment.

Biranchi Narayan Tripathy, a senior BJP leader, remarked that the BJD has raised concerns about EVMs and Form 17C only after the conclusion of the elections.

He noted that since the introduction of EVMs in India, the BJD has emerged victorious in four out of five subsequent elections and never questioned the voting machines while in control.

Tripathy challenged the BJD to explain why they are now alleging irregularities following their electoral defeat.

He added that during elections, party representatives collect Form 17C from polling officers.

In the 2024 general elections, approximately 37,800 polling booths were established, suggesting an equal number of BJD polling agents were present.

When considering both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, nearly 75,000 agents should have been deployed at the polling stations.

Nonetheless, no BJD polling agent reported any issues regarding the non-receipt of Form 17C at that time.

Tripathy emphasized that it is up to the people of Odisha to decide if raising such questions post-defeat is appropriate.