Re-polling at 4 booths in Kerala on May 19

THE RE-POLLING WILL BE HELD IN THREE BOOTHS IN KALLIASSERI IN KASARAGOD CONSTITUENCY AND A BOOTH IN TALIPARAMBA IN KANNUR, THE EC SAID

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala state election commission Thursday decided to conduct re-polling on May 19 in four booths in north Kerala, where allegations of bogus voting had surfaced in the April 23 Lok Sabha elections.

The re-polling would be held in three booths in Kalliasseri in Kasaragod constituency and a booth in Taliparamba in Kann ur , t h e EC s a i d he r e i n a release.

The polls would be held from 7 am to 6 pm on the day, the release said.

The Election Commission nullified the April 23 Lok Sabha polls held in the constituencies.

The decisi on was t aken based on t he reports of t he returning officers, the chief electoral officer and general observers, it said.

The opposition Congress and BJP, who had raised allegations of bogus voting against the workers of ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist), or, CPI(M), welcomed the election commission’s decision.

KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said the Congress party would extend support to the efforts of the EC to cleanse the polling exercise by checking bogus voting.

Three women activists of the ruling CPI(M), including a panchayat member, had earlier been booked on charges of bogus voting.

Local television channels had aired CCTV visuals in which the three women could be seen voting more than twice.

Later, the state chief electoral officer Teeka Ram Meena had confirmed that three Congress-led UDF workers had also cast bogus votes as alleged by the ruling Cpi(m)-headed Left Democratic Front in Kasaragod constituency.

The LDF had released ‘digital evidence’ of the bogus voting by two men, suspected to be Indian Union Muslim League workers, in a polling booth in Kasaragod.