Odisha: Arrested BJP MLA abused officers, damaged property at polling booth, say police

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According to an ANI report, Prashant Jagdev, the MLA for the Bharatiya Janata Party, invaded the polling booth and misbehaved with the election officers before being taken into custody by the Odisha Police on Sunday. Jagdev, a member of parliament from the Chilika assembly constituency, was taken into custody on suspicion of destroying an electronic voting machine (EVM) and hitting two poll workers on Saturday.

Jagdev misbehaved, mistreated the authorities, and harmed the VVPAT control equipment within the booth, according to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Awinash Kumar."MLA Chilika Assembly and MLA candidate for Khorda Assembly entered the booth after breaking the queue. Then, he has shown misbehaviour with the presiding officer and the polling officer. He also abused the government officials there. He damaged the VVPAT control unit. On the basis of this, a case was registered and thereafter, the MLA was taken to the court," the DIG told ANI.

He claimed that a video of the purported confrontation at the booth had been requested from the district election officer. "The footage in the booth is the property of the Election Commission of India, and in this connection, the District Election Officer has been requested to provide the footage. As of now, based on the statement of the presiding officer, the investigation has been done and action has been taken as per the law," Kumar added. BJP leader Prasanta Kumar Jagadev has been fielded from Khurda Lok Sabha constituency against BJD leader Rajendra Kumar Sahu.

His arrest occurs in the midst of the ongoing Odisha Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Statewide assembly elections are taking place in tandem with the Lok Sabha elections. Odisha is hosting four stages of the general election in 2024 to choose 21 members of the 18th Lok Sabha. On June 4, there will be a vote count.

(With Inputs from ANI)