KANNUR: CPM leaders, as well as the Congress’ Kannur candidate K Sudhakaran on Sunday, expressed displeasure over the Election Commission’s (EC) decision to conduct repolling at seven booths in the Kannur and Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituencies. However, the BJP said the drop in voter turnout on Sunday justified the repolling.
“If somebody cast a bogus vote, criminal action should be taken against that person only. The EC should think whether it should penalise all 1,000 voters by ordering a repoll instead of taking action against the ones who cast a bogus vote,” CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told reporters after the E K Nayanar memorial meeting at Nayanar Academy here.
“One or two complaints may crop up in every booth in the state. In that case, going by the EC’s logic, the entire state will have re-election,” he said. At the same time, Kodiyeri said LDF would improve its performance in all seven polling booths. CPM Kannur district secretary M V Jayarajan said the repolling inconvenienced a majority of people who had to pay for the mistake of a few.
Echoing similar sentiments, Sudhakaran said the UDF had called for action against the impersonators as per the law. BJP district president K Sreekanth and NDA’s Kasaragod candidate Ravish Tantri Kuntar welcomed the EC’s decision. EC should ensure similar security to prevent bogus voting in future, said Ravish.