The elections of three more MlAs, including Cabinet Minister Badrinarayan Patra have come under the scanner of the Orissa High Court, as the HC on Tuesday issued notices to them and several others in respect to three separate election petitions challenging their victories in the Assembly elections held in April this year.
Justice SC Parija holding preliminary hearings on the petitions issued notices to the respondents and posted matters to be heard next after three weeks. With these notices, the number of MlAs, whose elections to the Assembly has come under HC scanner has mounted to 12. Elections of at least 19 MlAs and a lone lok Sabha MP of the State have been challenged in the HC.
While the MlAs of Rengali, Bijepur, Bhawanipatna, Jharsuguda, Khurda, Chilika, Khandapada, Sundargarh and Raghunathpally have already been issued notices by separate benches of the HC earlier, the Ghasipura, Parjang and Mohana MlAs were issued notices on the day.
Ghaspura BJP leader Satyabrata Panda has challenged the election of BJD leader Badrinarayan Patra on the grounds that the election held here in the month April was not conducted in proper manner and many of the provisions under Peoples Representation Act were flouted. Patra had drubbed Panda in the election by a margin of over 88,000 votes in an eight-cornered contest. Similarly, Parjang’s Bibhuti Pradhan of BJP has challenged the election of BJD’s Nrushingha Chandra Sahu stating that the BJD leader had submitted a false affidavit at the time of filing nomination in which some criminal cases pending against the MlA have been missing. However, losing by a margin of 115 votes, Congress leader Dasarathi Gomango has challenged the election of BJD legislator Basanti Mallick stating that there were irregularities during voting in as many as 32 booths in his constituency. While the BJD candidate in Mohana had polled 43,006 votes, the Congress candidate polled 42,891 votes and was declared loser by a margin of only 115 votes in a nine-cornered contest. As many as 3,604 voters in this constituency did not find a suitable candidate in the fray and pushed the NOTA button in the EVM.