THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The UDF has decided to petition the Election Commission over the removal of names from the voter’s list. Addressing the media, the Opposition leader said this was done by the Pinarayi government to subvert the election process and undermine democracy.
He said the UDF doesn’t accept the Crime Branch inquiry into the police postal ballot malpractice.
Chennithala said the state government had tried to subvert the election process by using its administrative powers. Out of the 77 deputy Tahsildhars posted for the election duty, all except three were from the Left service organisations. Using them, the government removed lakhs of voters from the list.
Entrusting a nodal officer to collect the postal ballots of police officers in itself was a blatant misuse of power.
Despite his specific complaint, the Chief Electoral Officer did not take any action, he said. Had Teeka Ram Meena taken action then, the misuse and malpractice of postal ballot would not have taken place, Chennithala alleged.
He said extending the election till 6 pm had led to massive bogus voting and said the voting timing should be rescheduled to 5 pm.
In state, the Election fight was mainly against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pinarayi. He predicted that the UDF will win all the 20 seats.
Direct Involvement
Chennithala said the Chief Minister’s Office had directly intervened in the Kunnathunadu land filling case, subverting the revenue minister’s office.
Chennithala called upon the government to reveal the name of the shady industrialist behind the deal.
He called upon the Chief Minister to reveal the amount received from his Gulf trip for the post- flood rebuild process. He said nothing has taken place in the state after the flood.
He alleged that the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund has received `6,000 crore. But `4,000 crore still remains unused in account.
Maintaining his opposition against Masala Bond, Chennithala said the instrument will result in a major financial burden to the state and added that Chief Minister has a special liking for SNC Lavalin.
Police probe into postal ballot scam gets underway
Kasaragod : The police has initiated an inquiry into the complaint that 33 police personnel at the Bekal police station did not receive postal ballots which they had applied for. Crime Branch Deputy Superintendent of Police N P Vinod Kumar will lead the investigation. According to sources, the complaint was sent to the District Collector and the Returning Officer of the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency. Reportedly, two Assistant Sub Inspectors of Bedakam and Manjeswaram police stations have also not received the postal ballots.
Vinod Kumar said that the investigation into the alleged non-receipt of postal ballots was on and it was too early to give further details about it, at this stage. District Collector D Sajith Babu said that he would act on the basis of the police inquiry. “Let the report come,” he said. Reports said police personnel who didn’t receive postal ballots are from Kasaragod, Udma, Kanhangad and Trikkaripur. Further, the majority of those who didn’t receive ballot papers are UDF sympathisers.