THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after stating that it would point out the ‘practical difficulties’ in using the 2015 voters’ list for the upcoming local body elections, the government on Tuesday backed the State Election Commission’s decision to choose the voters list used in the previous civic poll.
“What we have before us is the voters’ list of 2015. Next comes the process of making additions and deletions to it,” Industries Minister E P Jayarajan told reporters.
On Monday, Local Self Government Minister A C Moideen said the government will bring to the notice of the state election commission the ‘practical difficulties’ in using the 2015 voters’ list. However, Jayarajan’s statement a day later indicated that the government has taken a U-turn and is in no mood for a collision course with the state poll panel.
Meanwhile, the Opposition UDF remained firm in its opposition towards using the 2015 electoral roll. “If needed, we will approach the court against the move,” Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala told reporters in New Delhi.
HC seeks Election Commission’s view
Kochi: The High Court on Tuesday sought the view of the State Election Commission (SEC) on a petition challenging the decision of the commission to conduct the upcoming local body polls based on the voters’ list it had prepared for the 2015 civic body polls. The court issued notice to the SEC on a petition filed by Sooppy Narikkatteri and P Hashif of Kozhikode challenging the decision. The SEC issued a direction to the election officers to renew the electoral roll of all local bodies keeping the list of 2015 as the draft electoral roll.