While welcoming the High Court verdict on bogus voters, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala continues to stand firm on his belief that there more than 4,34,000 fake voters on the voters’ list.
“The Kerala High Court verdict on the fake voter list is gratifying. However, the Election Commission (EC) is wrong in saying that there are only 38,000 dual voters. I stand firm that there are 4,34,000 fake voters,” Chennithala said in a press release.
The Opposition Leader said that the complete list and details of the fake voters will be released on the website www.operationtwins.com at 9 pm tonight. He said that activists and the public should check the list of all political parties and then pass it on to the Election Commission.
Chennithala said that the EC asked the Booth Level Officers (BLO) to check for faker voters, but there are some limitations. The Election Commission has not been able to conduct inspections to detect fake voters and told the BLO to look into it on their behalf. The BLO can only record duplicity of names in the respective booth. But they cannot find duplication in multiple booths with the same photo. Similarly, BLOs cannot detect duplications spread across many regions,” he said.
Chennithala said the number of fake voters could be more than 4,34,000. “It took many days. My colleagues and I worked hard to find these fake voters. So far, we have found 4,34,000 fake voters, but the number could be more,” he said, adding that the EC should have looked into the matter earlier.
The senior Congress leader said that it is unclear how practicable it is to take affidavits from fake voters in the terms approved by the High Court. “Will those voting fraudulently give an affidavit? Eight to 10 fake voters are added to one person's name. The voter does not know that. Since the person is unaware of the number of voters added under his name, how can he file an affidavit,” Chennithala asked.
According to the Representation of the People Act, a person can get only one vote. Chennithala said that alone should be allowed. He added that the opposition does not want to disrupt the election but insisted that vote-rigging should not be allowed. However, he claimed that it is the state government that wants fake voting.
Chennithala also welcomed the court's order to install cameras in booths to prevent fraudulent voting and to deploy central forces where necessary.
“There are widespread complaints of gross fraud in the collection of votes from those 80 years of age and those with disabilities at home. While threats have been issued in some places, people have been asked to vote after payment of pensions in other places. These are indecent acts. It has become a situation where anything can be done. There are officials not valuing the instructions of the Election Commission and strict action should be taken against them,” Chennithala said.
The Opposition Leader said that although the court ruled that postal votes collected must be kept in the strong room, many places do not have strong rooms. “It is kept in drawers and under the table. Action should be taken against the officials who mildly deal with such issues,” he said.
