The Kerala police on Wednesday registered criminal cases against four people for casting more than one vote during the Lok Sabha Elections in Kerala. Kerala voted for all its 20 Lok Sabha seats on April 23.
Cases have been filed against three women from Kasargod, Panchayat member M.V.Salina, former Panchayat member KP Sumya and Padmini – all of whom are CPI-M activists – and one man, a K Shyamakumar, a resident of Karakkad, for bogus voting.
The CEO had issued instructions to register a case against K Shyamkumar, a resident of Karakkad in the Cheemeni area, who has been accused of voting twice in Trikaripur in Kasaragod during on April 23 for the Lok Sabha elections.
According to a report by The Hindu, Teeka Ram Meena had directed the District Collector to conduct an inquiry and take action against the polling officer for a breach in his duty. The officials will be booked under Section 134 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The three women have been booked for casting more than one vote at the Pillathara polling booth in Kasargode Lok Sabha constituency on April 23. They have been charged under IPC Sections 171 A ( Wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent), C (Undue influence at elections), D ( Personation at elections) and F (Punishment for undue influence or personation at an election).
An official attached to the Pariyaram police station, who did not wish to be identified, confirmed to IANS that they have registered criminal cases against the three women. "The case has been registered and a probe into charges of bogus voting will be looked into," said the official.
Earlier this week, Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena confirmed that the three women voted twice and asked the returning officer to register cases against them under various sections of the IPC. Meena also said that Salina would have to resign from the Panchayat she was a member of and face a probe.
The CPI(M) top brass attacked Meena for being partisan in his decisions. Local CPI-M legislator TV Rajesh on Wednesday told the media that the party would seriously look into the matter as it felt that the CEO had crossed his limits.
"The women will take legal a recourse in the matter and will also file defamation cases against the media that portrayed them in poor light," said Rajesh.
However, Congress candidate from Kasargode Rajmohan Unnithan said that the CPI-M still insisting on calling multiple voting by the three women an "open vote" was wrong.
"There is nothing called an 'open vote' in the electoral handbook. There is something referred to a 'companion vote' but in the entire polling day video, there is no sight of any person other than these three women who voted.
"If they say it was done for a companion, then where is that companion? Moreover, in such a case, there are forms to be filled, after the electoral officer ascertains from the person who is unable to cast their vote and requires assistance. This has not happened," said Unnithan.
He added that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) claimed that the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) workers also indulged in bogus voting, but did not give any evidence to support that claim.
With IANS inputs.