KOCHI: The official panel won the election to the Board of Directors of the Perumbavoor Urban Cooperative Society, where alleged irregularities running into over Rs 100 crore were unearthed recently, by 390 votes on Sunday.
The election was necessitated after society president Paul Pathickal, the chairperson of Perumbavoor municipality, resigned when the scam came to light. As many as 1,600 members out of the 16,995-member society cast votes.
The panel of aggrieved investors, who contested the election under the banner of Nikshepaka Samrakshana Samithi, garnered 590 votes.
The election was in news as this was the first time in Kerala that aggrieved investors formed a samithi and fielded a panel. It is also the first time in 80 years of the municipality’s history that the losing panel garnered so many votes.
Mayinkutty N A, samithi leader, told TNIE that they would continue their fight to ensure justice to the hundreds of investors whose hard-earned money is stuck in the scam.
“The voters list and the society’s ID card did not have photos on it. Also, widespread corrections were made in the voters’ list to subvert the election. We will fight until we get every penny of our investment,” he said.
Shaji Kunnathan, likely the next society president, said they would soon start revenue recovery proceedings from defaulters and pay back the investors.