In Kerala’s Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency, allegations of fake voting have risen on the morning of April 26, the polling day. KP Rajendran, chief election agent of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate VS Sunil Kumar, alleged that thousands of voters who do not reside in the constituency have their names in the voters list. Thrissur is also where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded its celebrity candidate Suresh Gopi, and Rajendran said that the LDF had sent a formal complaint about fake voters weeks ago, and even made a fresh complaint just a day before, after finding that the names were still there.
“We have submitted our complaint with proof to the returning officer, Election Commissioner, and all, about fake voting being planned in a big way just in the Thrissur Assembly constituency,” Rajendran said. The assembly is one of the seven that comes under the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency.
“There has been an increase of nearly 10,000 votes just in this area, and upon close examination, we found that many names were recorded from flats and colonies of people who are not residents of Thrissur. Some have also cut off their names. We gave another complaint now after checking the booths and finding the names still there. I have brought it to the attention of the election officers. This is a conscious attempt to sabotage the election and legal proceedings should be taken against it,” Rajendran added.
There has been a lot of interest in the constituency since Suresh Gopi’s name was announced for a second time as the BJP candidate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made multiple visits to Thrissur, rallying for the party and Gopi. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) fielded one of their bigshots, K Muraleedharan, while the LDF put forth the Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Sunil Kumar in the constituency.
Another fake vote allegation came from a booth in Puthuvype of the Ernakulam district, where a woman alleged that someone had already cast a vote using her identity.
