In the latest action taken against bogus voting incidents in the state, the Kerala police have registered a case against 3 IUML (Indian Union Muslim League) workers in Kasaragod for casting fake votes.
The three men who have been booked are Mohammad Fayis, KM Muhammad and Abdul Samad. The three had allegedly cast fake votes at booths in Puthiyangadi in the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency.
According to the CCTV footage, while Fayis can be seen voting twice from different booths, another of the accused voted two times from the same booth.
The incident came to light when the CPI(M) had accused the IUML supporters of bogus voting in booths 69 and 70 of Puthiyangadi. They had also handed over video footage of the fake votes being cast, as evidence.
Following this, the Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena ordered an investigation. The District Collector probed the case and found that fake votes had indeed been cast.
Statements of the three accused were taken and a detailed report was submitted to the CEO.
The IUML is a part of the Congress-led UDF in Kerala.
Earlier, three women CPI(M) workers, including a panchayat member, were booked for casting fake votes in the Pilathara school in Kannur. The women were identified as Padmini, Sumayya and NP Selena. Initially, CPI(M) mouthpiece Deshabhimani stated that the accused had cast open votes. Kerala CEO refuted this claim and said that the votes cast were fake. Cases were registered against the three of them.
While CEO Teeka Ram Man had recommended for the disqualification of NP Selena, the panchayat member, the State EC rejected this proposal. Meena in his argument stated that Selena engaged in grievous violation of the Model Code of Conduct and hence must be disqualified. However the state EC replied that the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act has clear regulations regarding disqualification of a member and it can only happen if the member is engaged in impersonation or bad behaviour.
There have been at least 200 allegations of fake voting against the CPI(M). The Congress-led UDF submitted video footage of 199 cases of bogus voting by the CPI(M) in the state.