Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday raised the allegation of voter identity fraud.
In a complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Mr. Chennithala said a 61-year-old woman in the Uduma constituency in Kasaragod had come into possession of at least five voter identity cards. She could use the cards to vote multiple times. The photograph on the cards was the same. However, the names and addresses differed slightly.
Similar pattern
Mr. Chennithala said Congress workers saw a similar pattern in all 140 constituencies in Kerala. There seemed to be a conspiracy at the government’s apex level to create fake voters to swing the election in favour of the ruling front illegally.
He alleged that Congress workers had stumbled upon 4,506 fake voters in the Kazhakuttam constituency. The number of fake voters for Kollam was 2,534, Thrikkarippur 1,436, Koyilandy 4,611, Nadapuram 6,171, Koothuparamba 3,525 and Ambalappuzha 4,750. Mr. Chennithala said he suspected the active connivance of officials responsible for preparing the electoral list.
Change in method
They owed allegiance to the ruling front. In the past, fraudsters had used the electoral identity cards of the dead or those not at home for bogus voting. Now, the method of operation had changed. The same voter was accorded a multiple set of identity cards. Mr. Chennithala demanded a probe into the allegation. He said fake voters should be removed from the electoral roll before the voting day.