BJP State General Secretary Anoop Antony has alleged that the ruling LDF is deliberately attempting to sabotage the upcoming local body elections in Kerala, fearing a massive electoral defeat. He claimed that there have been irregularities in the division of wards and significant anomalies in the updated voter list.
According to Anoop, the BJP has conducted a panchayat-level verification and discovered that lakhs of people appear to have double entries in the voter list. He alleged that several individuals have been registered with multiple votes, and in many cases, voters share the same ID number. He further stated that some of them have more than one vote each. He demanded a thorough investigation into these irregularities and called upon the Election Commission to take immediate and serious action to prevent electoral fraud.
Anoop also stressed the need to examine the total newly added figure of 2,76,793 voters, suggesting that such figures must be verified to rule out manipulation. He insisted that a proper investigation must be conducted to determine whether any officials were complicit in the irregularities. The BJP has already lodged a formal complaint with the Election Commission, he added.
Meanwhile, BJP State President Rajeev Chandrasekhar echoed these concerns, stating that the preparations for the local self-government elections have been “completely sabotaged.” He pointed out that serious irregularities have been found in ward delimitation and the preparation of voter lists across many municipalities, including Thiruvananthapuram, and in a majority of panchayats.
Despite hundreds of complaints submitted, the Election Commission has allegedly failed to take them seriously, he said. Even after raising the issue during an all-party meeting, the BJP claims no remedial action has been taken. Rajeev Chandrasekhar asserted that the BJP now has no option left but to seek legal recourse through the courts.
In the midst of these developments, the last date for updating the voter list has been extended in preparation for the upcoming local body elections. State Election Commissioner A Shahjahan announced that the deadline for adding names to the electoral roll has been extended to August 12. The earlier deadline had been August 8.
The extension aims to give more time for the public to include their names in the voter list and to make necessary corrections. The BJP had previously demanded an extension to the deadline, citing various challenges faced by the public in accessing and updating the list.
BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar had also written to the State Election Commission, requesting that the deadline for voter list updates be extended to August 31. In his letter, he pointed out that the current draft voter list contains anomalies of an unprecedented nature in Kerala’s electoral history.
He also noted that the time allotted for name additions and amendments was too short. Furthermore, the lack of training provided to the public, combined with repeated technical failures on the Election Commission’s website, significantly hampered the update process. Many citizens, he claimed, lost the opportunity to register or correct their entries.
Additionally, due to irregularities in the delimitation process, several booths have been changed, resulting in widespread confusion. Voters are now finding their names listed in two or three different wards, making it difficult to even verify their own registration. Chandrasekhar emphasized that such chaos has seriously undermined the credibility of the electoral process.
The local body elections are scheduled to be held in Kerala by the end of this year, and the Election Commission is currently in the process of updating the voter list.
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