Bhubaneswar, Dec 24 (PTI) The opposition BJD on Tuesday said it lodged the complaint with the Election Commission claiming "unusual" variances in the votes cast in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Odisha after six months as it took time to gather the data.

Addressing a press conference, BJD MLA Arun Kumar Sahoo alleged that district election officers did not provide the data even after queries under the RTI were filed.

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Expressing "surprise" with the BJP's criticism, he said, "Why is BJP reacting when no one has blamed them? This indicates that there might be some design."

The BJD, in its memorandum to the EC on Monday, claimed that "serious discrepancies" have been found between Form 17-C filled by presiding officers and Form-20 filled by returning officers.

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It also claimed that discrepancies were found in the number of votes polled in assembly constituencies and corresponding 21 parliamentary constituencies. The variations ranged from 4,056 votes in Dhenkanal to 3,521 votes in Kandhamal and 2,701 votes in Balangir, the party said.

Reacting to it, BJP MP Balabhadra Majhi had said, "Six months after the election, now they have realised that they do not have the power. They are doing all this drama just to stay in the limelight."

Sahoo said, "After the elections, we asked the district collectors for information about all the booths. But they did not provide it. Everyone has the right to get this information."

He alleged that the state government has given an "unwritten order" to the district collectors not to provide the data.

"We have been researching and collecting information for six months after being denied data. We found several lacunae. If the EC is correct, then why is the copy not being given," he asked.

"How come data provided by the presiding officers and the returning officers differ?" he asked, maintaining that these gaps have created confusion in the minds of the people and thus the BJD approached the EC for clarification.

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