Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Kerala Teeka Ram Meena revealed here on Friday that three Muslim League workers had cast bogus votes in Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency.
After perusing reports filed by District Collectors of Kannur and Kasargod districts, the CEO said strong action would be taken against those who engaged in bogus voting.
The LDF had released 'digital evidence' of the bogus voting by two men, suspected to be IUML workers, in a polling booth in Kasaragod.
“Four persons reached the polling booth on more than one occasion. Complaints were received regarding bogus votes at Kalliyangadi and Puthiyangadi. At Puthiyangadi, Muhammed Fayaz cast a bogus vote. In addition, the same fraud was committed by K M Muhammad and Abdul Samad,” said Meena.
He added that cases will be filed against these people. Meanwhile, instructions have been issued to conduct a more detailed probe into the alleged involvement of polling officials in the incident. “A report in this regard has been sought within seven days,” Meena said.
Earlier, the CEO on April 29 said that three women, including a CPM panchayat member, had cast bogus votes in Kasaragod constituency.
Rejecting the charge, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had criticised the CEO and alleged that Meena was acting in accordance with UDF's ploy.
Exclusions from voters' list
The CEO also promised to examine complaints regarding removal of hundreds of names from the voters' list by illegal means. “In case the officials are found to have deliberately excluded the names, they will face action,” he said.
However, Meena felt that many people who possessed voter’s ID card had not cooperated with the authorities during the scrutiny of the voters' list. “This might have led to their exclusion from the list,” he opined.
People were given the opportunity to enrol themselves in the voters' list till March 25 this year. The Election Commission had also conducted two camps at the booth-level for the purpose, said the CEO. “After all this, the Opposition has come up with the allegation that in some districts 5 to 30 voters were dropped from the list in each booth,” said Meena.
According to the opposition parties, state government employees who are activists of Left trade unions had resorted to this malpractice without the permission of the booth-level officer. “Such charges will be examined,” said Meena.
The CEO pointed out that the matter of updating the voters' list was discussed in detail with political parties on two occasions. “But the parties did not consider the issue seriously. Moreover, their claim that some people whose name was included in the list found that it was missing when they reached the polling booth is entirely baseless,” Meena said.
