Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer Nikunja Bihari Dhal Tuesday ordered an investigation into the breaking of an EVM allegedly by a sitting MLA who is also a BJP assembly poll candidate Prasanta Jagadev.
On May 26, the police arrested Jagadev on the charge of vandalizing the EVM inside a booth under Begunia assembly segment where he had gone to cast vote during the third phase of voting in the state on the day before.
The CEO asked the Khurda District Election Officer (DEO) to conduct an inquiry after a video relating to the incident came to its notice.
“It is viewed in the control rooms of CEO, DEOs, and Returning Officers. The DEO is the custodian of the web casting records. Hence, the DEO, Khurda, should conduct an immediate inquiry and clarify the matter,” a press release issued by the CEO’s office said.
Jagadev was arrested based on an FIR lodged by the presiding officer of the booth. However, the MLA who had defected from the BJD to join the BJP rejected the allegation.
Meanwhile, Bhubaneswar MP and BJP Lok Sabha candidate Aparajita Sarangi shared the purported CCTV footage of the polling station which did not show Jagdev breaking the EVM.
Sarangi said the police were pressuring her driver Banamali to name Jagdev as the culprit.
The accused politician was returning from the booth in Sarangi’s car driven by Banamali when the Jagdev was picked up.
Sarangi alleged that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik hatched a conspiracy to put the sitting lawmaker behind bars.
She said, “What is happening here is against the principles of natural justice. An MP’s vehicle is accosted and the sitting MLA is dragged out by the police and arrested. He has been languishing in jail for the last 3 days. Who is responsible for it?”
Police said Jagadev was allegedly seen manhandling a woman polling staff and the presiding officer in the webcasting system at the polling booth due to which the polling process was disrupted for some time.
Khurda district SP Avinash Kumar said the police arrested Jagdev based on the FIR of the presiding officer. The police have sought verification of the CCTV footage of the booth, he said.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJD accused the opposition BJP of shielding the MLA who has been arrested in an EVM-breaking incident.
PTI