Fake voter issue takes centrestage
KOCHI: The issue of bogus voters and multiple entries, numbering as high as 4.34 lakh, raised by Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, has become the focal point of this elections as campaigning entered its final phase.Corroborating the allegations raised by Chennithala, the name of the late CPM leader P K Kunhananthan was found to be figuring in the voter list in the Koothuparamba constituency, pushing the LDF on the defensive.
After the information came out, following a complaint filed by a Congress activist in the constituency, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said in a statement that Kunjananthan’s name was removed from the electoral rolls.
CPM politburo member M A Baby, meanwhile, alleged the Opposition leader leaked the personal details of 4.34 lakh voters, whose names were duplicated on the electoral rolls, through the Singapore-based www.operationtwins.com portal.
“The IP address shows the portal is based in Singapore and the opposition leader handed over the personal information to the foreign-based portal without the consent of people. This raises ethical and legal issues,” Baby said in Thiruvananthapuram.
Chennithala, in a Facebook post, said the CPM’s response shows its panic and nervousness after getting caught red-handed in its act of systematic creation of bogus voters and multiple entries which the party used to win elections in the past.“When they got caught, they are trying to divert attention by raising issues such as data leak,” he wrote.
UDF gaining edge over LDF: Survey
“There is no data leak in the information we shared relating to bogus voters list and multiple entries. It’s really surprising that CPM’s ‘intellectuals’ do not know the difference between sensitive private data and other data,” Chennithala said.D Dhanuraj, chairman of Kochi-based think-tank Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), said the election narrative has tilted in favour of the UDF through the issue of bogus voters and multiple voter entries.
“The UDF is clearly gaining the narrative edge over the LDF. Also, since the LDF campaign is dependent solely on the shoulders of Pinarayi Vijayan, the cadre are confused what his stand is on the issue,” he said.
A field survey conducted by CPPR in recent days showed that the UDF has closed the gap with the LDF. “There is also a feeling that Chennithala has put out something credible through the bogus voter list issue. That’s the sense we are getting from voters,” he added.