PATHANAMTHITTA: Dramatic protests and allegations, culminating in the suspension of an LD clerk, marked the final hours before the district went to polls on Friday.
The turn of events started with Anto Antony, the UDF candidate in Pathanamthitta, staging a sit-in protest at the collectorate, alleging that the list of polling officials on duty at the Konni assembly segment was leaked by LDF-affiliated unions through WhatsApp groups.
“The list which should be handed over only during the distribution of polling materials and to be kept by the designated officers in secrecy, has been widely circulated across various WhatsApp groups for at least a couple of days now. This is part of an attempt to commit election fraud,” he said.
Anto said that those Left leaders, who got the list in advance, have directed their cadres for bogus voting.
Following the developments, District Collector and Election Officer Prem Krishnan suspended Yadu Krishnan, an LD clerk with the Konni Taluk Office. The action was based on the finding that the document, which had been sent through official mail, made its entry into a WhatsApp group from his phone.
Commenting on the development, the collector said the issue had been resolved. The list of polling officials on duty has been completely revamped, and a committee has been constituted to find out the involvement of other officials. “Action will be initiated against all those who circulated the official document through social media. A police complaint has been filed in this regard,” he said.
The LDF too filed a complaint with the collector against the UDF’s allegation of forging one lakh election identity cards by the Left front. LDF chief agent Raju Abraham filed the complaint with the collector against the allegations levelled by Anto. The official said that he would investigate the complaint and seek an explanation from Anto. The NDA also came up with a complaint against the LDF, accusing the coalition of using Kudumbasree and Haritha Karma Sena workers in violation of the protocol.