A fresh political controversy has erupted in Odisha following allegations of large-scale vote rigging during the recent elections, with Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President Bhakta Charan Das accusing former bureaucrat-turned-politician VK Pandian of aiding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to secure victory.
The claims have ignited a fierce war of words among leaders of the Congress, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and BJP, further intensifying the state’s political landscape.
Das alleged that 42 lakh votes were cast between 5 PM and 9 PM during the election, raising suspicions about their legitimacy. “Where did these voters come from in such a short time?” he questioned, pointing out the anomaly. He further noted that while the Congress secured 14 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat, the BJD, despite winning 51 Assembly seats, failed to secure a single Lok Sabha seat—a result he deemed “unnatural.”
Das went on to claim that VK Pandian, not former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, orchestrated the vote manipulation to favour the BJP, accusing him of enabling the “looting of Odisha.”
BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty dismissed the allegations as “childish,” arguing that the vote difference in Odisha’s 18 Lok Sabha and 140 Assembly constituencies was a mere 2 per cent. He highlighted that the BJD had already demanded a probe by the Election Commission and a CAG audit. Mohanty accused the Congress of targeting the BJD to gain political mileage while sparing the BJP from scrutiny. “Why is the PCC President silent on the BJP?” he asked, urging Das to respect the democratic process.
BJP MLA Jaynarayan Mishra hit back at the Congress, calling their allegations baseless. He pointed out that the Congress had won in Karnataka, implying they might be projecting their own tactics. Mishra also noted that electronic voting machines were introduced by a Congress government, suggesting they understand the system’s intricacies. Taking a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Mishra remarked, “It seems Rahul Gandhi has found a new toy.” He challenged the Congress to provide a list of booths where rigging allegedly occurred, adding that during the elections, the BJD was in power, not the BJP, making the accusations illogical.
The escalating feud has drawn significant attention, with all three parties trading barbs over the integrity of Odisha’s electoral process. As the debate rages on, calls for a thorough investigation into the alleged irregularities are growing louder, setting the stage for a contentious political showdown in the state.
