Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], June 1 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has written to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Odisha, seeking immediate investigation and action on reported suspicious activity involving bribery and misuse of the State Government's Mission Shakti premises at Remuna block in Odisha's Balasore district.
"On 31-05-24, a report of suspicious activity was brought to light involving the office of Mission Shakti. The MLA candidate of the BJP promptly arrived at the scene and informed the flying squad of the same. Upon their arrival, three SHG women who were present in the Mission Shakti office fled the premises. During the subsequent investigation, the flying squad recovered a bag containing lakhs of rupees intended to unduly influence voters," the Odisha unit of the BJP said in the complaint to the CEO.
The Odisha BJP asked the CEO to conduct an immediate and comprehensive investigation to identify the government officials involved in this incident and determine their level of participation in aiding the political party.
The party has also asked to suspend the identified officials to ensure an impartial investigation and to send a strong deterrent message to other government employees against engaging in such illegal activities.
The BJP has demanded to enhance patrolling and surveillance within the constituency to prevent any further occurrences of such malpractices.
The assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Odisha are taking place simultaneously, in four phases, from May 13 to June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
In the last assembly elections in 2019, the BJD won 112 out of 146 seats. BJP won 23 seats and Congress got nine seats.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJD mopped up the lion's share of the electoral spoils, with the BJP and the Congress following behind. The BJD won 12 seats, the BJP finished a close second at 8, and the Congress bagged just a lone seat. (ANI)
