India News | BJP Using People with Criminal Pasts, Says Naveen Patnaik over RS Polls

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], March 16 (ANI): Former Chief Minister of Odisha and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader, Naveen Patnaik, on Monday slammed the BJP over the Rajya Sabha elections, alleging horse-trading and involvement of individuals with criminal backgrounds.

Patnaik told the media, "As has been discussed in the last few days about the BJP and their allies, it is clear what is meant for the horse trading they will do. They have collected a number of people to work for them. Most of them have criminal pasts, I am ashamed to say. Check for yourselves how many of their parents went to jail, or have themselves been threatened by jail. And as recently as yesterday, BJP MLAs were kept in Paradip."

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Earlier today, Patnaik alleged irregularities during voting for the Rajya Sabha elections, claiming that election norms were violated after a legislator was issued a second ballot paper.

Patnaik said that the MLA from the Brahmagiri Assembly constituency had made an error while casting her vote, further alleging that the polling officer accepted the vote despite the mistake and subsequently issued a second ballot paper, which he claimed was against election rules.

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"The MLA of Brahmagiri had made a clear mistake while voting. But the officer sitting in the voting room who is in charge of this has illegally accepted her vote and has issued a second ballot paper. This is totally against the democratic norms and a violation of election rules," Patnaik said.

Voting for the Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha is currently underway, with members of the Odisha Legislative Assembly casting their votes to elect representatives to the Upper House of Parliament.

The biennial Rajya Sabha elections are being held to fill 37 seats across 10 states. With polling currently underway, the counting of votes is scheduled to begin at 5 PM today.

The term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected.

Out of these, 26 candidates have already secured victory unopposed. Voting will now take place for the remaining 11 seats, including four from Odisha, five from Bihar, and two from Haryana.

The results will be out today. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)