KOCHI: The Congress party on Thursday strengthened its allegations in connection with the bogus voting and propped up its claims by stating the names of voters, mainly UDF supporters, were removed from the voters’ list. It was KPCC vice-president V D Satheesan MLA who alleged there were large-scale discrepancies in the voters’ list. He said the Congress leadership will approach the State and Central Election Commissions in this regard. “If the Election Commission fails in taking appropriate action on our complaints, we will take up the issue legally and will approach the court,” Satheesan told Express.
He said the discrepancy in voters’ list was identified in many booths at all the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. “We believe nearly 10,000 to 15,000 voters, who are mainly UDF supporters, were removed from the list in each constituency. In each booth, the names of 10 to 30 UDF voters were removed. The irregularities were executed with the help of clerical staff and officers affiliated to Left employee unions. These employees were deployed in the election system at the revenue level in both districts and taluks,” said Satheesan.
The voters who were removed from the list had cast their votes during the last Assembly elections. “They are residing in the same address. Normally, the names of deceased persons, those who relocated themselves to a new address/location and those who change their address after marriage are removed from the voters’ list. The names which are removed from the list will be shown in the deleted list of each booth. However, in this case, the names of those people who were removed from the main list are not included in the deleted list,” said Satheesan.
He alleged the deletion was done without consulting booth-level officers (BLOs). “When contacted, all the BLOs said they have not recommended or given any specific reports suggesting such a mass deletion of voters from the list. The state leaders of the LDF, including the Ministers, are part of this conspiracy,” Satheesan said.