Soon after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held a press conference to reveal alleged voter roll manipulations, allegations of a similar vein started to pour out of the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala. More than a year after the BJP won its first ever seat in Thrissur, Congress-led United Democratic Front and CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front are levelling allegations of electoral roll manipulation in the constituency by adding non-residents to the rolls.
The allegations raise a pertinent question: how does the Election Commission define an ordinary resident in a constituency?
As per the allegations, multiple persons, including winning candidate and BJP leader Suresh Gopi, his family members, and driver were added to the list, even though they were not residents of Thrissur. Names of several RSS-BJP members too have surfaced in the list.
While Suresh Gopi and his family are permanent residents of Sasthamangalam in Thiruvananthapuram, his political work has been focussed on Thrissur ever since BJP tried its luck there with the actor-turned-politician in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, around 11 votes, including those of the family members of Suresh Gopi and his brother Subhash, were allegedly added to the address of a rented house, ‘Bharat Heritage’ in Nettisery.
Subhash and his family are permanent residents of Kollam. Multiple media reports said that the names of Subhash and his wife Rani were present in the electoral rolls of both Thrissur and Kollam in 2024.
Former Thrissur MP and Congress leader TN Prathapan alleged that Suresh Gopi and family rented Bharat Heritage only a couple of months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. Prathapan, on August 12, filed a complaint to Thrissur City Police Commissioner, demanding a criminal investigation against Suresh Gopi on charges of filing a false affidavit, because he had declared six-months domicile in the constituency while filing his nomination.
Six-month stay mandatory?
The Manual on Electoral Roll published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) says that there is no prescribed qualifying period of stay to prove that a person is ordinarily resident in the constituency. While the Representation of the People Act, 1950, had mandated a minimum stay of six months, the clause was done away with an amendment in 1956.
Even though the rules do not mention a minimum period of stay, the Manual mentions that residence should be permanent in character, not casual or temporary.
"Section 20(7) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, provides that the Electoral Registration Officer shall determine a question as to where a person is ordinary resident at any relevant time, with reference to all facts and to such rules as may be made by the Central Government in consultation with the Election Commission,” says the Manual.
The ECI’s Manual depends on a Guwahati High Court ruling for the definition of the term ‘Ordinary Resident’. It says that the term means “a usual and normal resident of a place, residence must be permanent in character and not temporary or casual, and it must be for a considerable time. The resident must have intention to reside there permanently. It is the place where he habitually sleeps at night. The Supreme Court has held that the person has to have an intention to stay at that place for a considerably long time."
Domicile question faced by Manmohan Singh
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh faced similar questions regarding his residency shortly after he began his political career as the Union Finance minister in 1991. As he has to be a Member of Parliament within six months, it was decided to elect him to Rajya Sabha from Assam. To facilitate this, Singh's name had to be deleted from the electoral roll in Delhi and added to the Dispur roll.
Singh had filed an application, mentioning him as a tenant of the house belonging to the wife of the then chief minister of Assam Hiteswar Saikia. In 1994, the Chief Election Commission served notice to Singh, stating that he was an elector of Delhi and his declaration as a resident of Dispur didn't hold up on verification. Even though the Guwahati court quashed the ECI notice against Singh, it observed that the ordinary resident in a constituency should be a habitual resident.
Later, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal filed by ECI citing lack of proof to contradict the declaration submitted by Singh.
Shifting just ahead of election
With Thrissur having been the primary focus of the BJP in the Lok Sabha election, many voters affiliated to the RSS-BJP allegedly shifted their names to the Thrissur constituency ahead of the election. Though there was a 10% increase in the number of voters in Thrissur between 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the exact number of voters who changed constituencies is not available.
RSS-BJP member Shaji KR, alias Shaji Varavoor, who admitted shifting his name to the Thrissur electoral roll from his home constituency Alathur ahead of the LS polls, told media on August 12 that he did not cast his vote from Thrissur due to “ethical reasons”. He said that though he, his wife, and mother had shifted their names to Thrissur ahead of the election, their names were also in the list of Alathur constituency where they cast votes.
“My wife and I voted from Alathur. I was not aware of the rules. I changed the constituency for the first time. So I expected that my name would be deleted from Alathur. But names were here as well as there,” he said. Justifying the addition of his name in Thrissur, Shaji said he stayed at his friend's house in the constituency for almost two years as part of the election campaign.
Both the Congress and the CPI(M) alleged that names of non-residents were added to the electoral roll using addresses of vacant houses and flats in Thrissur.
Chief Electoral Officer of Kerala Ratan Khelkar told TNM that the Election Commission would do the needful on the allegations arising from Thrissur constituency.