THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)-Kerala Rathan U Kelkar has sought a report from the Thiruvananthapuram District Collector who is also the District Election Officer in the wake of a complaint that as many as 90 officials from the state Labour Department have been deputed as election personnel in Nemom where Labour Minister and CPM candidate V Sivankutty is contesting.
The report was sought based on a complaint from the BJP Kerala unit that polling officials, including the Returning Officer of Nemom constituency, were deputed from the Labour Department. “Their continued involvement in the conduct of the election is creating a prejudice against the BJP candidate and there are circumstances indicating that they are acting in a manner detrimental to other candidates and in favour of the minister,” the BJP said in its complaint.
The complaint also alleged that a candidate named Rajeev Kumar, allegedly fielded by the CPM as a namesake of Rajeev Chandrasekhar, was allotted a symbol by the polling officials that bore close resemblance to the BJP’s ‘lotus’ symbol to mislead voters. The BJP demanded a recall and removal of such “biased officials” and also demanded rectification.