In an embarrassment to the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala, the chief electoral officer, Teeka Ram Meena, on Monday, said bogus voting took place at a polling booth in Kannur district, Onmanorama reported on Monday (April 29). Three women were found doing it, the CEO was quoted as saying. “This happened at the polling booth at Pillathara in Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency (in Kannur district). After detailed examination of the visuals, it has been found that three women voted twice. We have asked the returning officer to register cases against the three under various IPC sections,” Meena told the media.
The police would conduct a detailed probe, sources said. “Two polling agents of the CPM candidate will also be proceeded against for abetting the crime. The polling officials in the booth will also face the probe. There is nothing called ‘open vote’ (as claimed by CPM leaders after the controversy broke out). One of the women, Salina, is a local panchayat member and she has to resign from the post and face the probe,” said Meena.
Since Saturday, after TV channels aired visuals of the bogus voting ‘caught on camera’ in the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency, the Congress took up the issue with the CEO. On Sunday, the CEO sought a detailed report from the district collectors of Kannur and Kasaragod, where these incidents were reported. Kerala voted on April 23 for all 20 Lok Sabha seats. The district collectors met officials attached to the polling booths where the incidents were reported and sought their version.
The CPM’s Kannur district secretary MV Jayarajan had earlier stated that the party workers had only done ‘open voting.’ However, Congress candidate from Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency Rajmohan Unnithan told the media on Monday that there was no such thing as ‘open voting.’ “What’s there in law is companion voting. But in these visuals, all these people were voting themselves. Under law, if a person is unable to cast his vote, one can have a companion in the polling booth,” said Unnithan, adding that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should speak up.
(With agency inputs)