Cong. leaders ay CPI(M), EC over Lok Sabha poll in Kerala
LoP V.D. Satheesan demands comprehensive probe by an independent agency into ‘unprecedented bad organisation’ of the polls in the State; Cong. general secretary K.C. Venugopal accuses ruling party of ‘hijacking the election machinery’
erala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan on Saturday demanded a comprehensive probe by an independent agency into what he alleged was an unprecedented bad organisation of the Lok Sabha polls in Kerala, a day after the State witnessed a poll process that recorded a considerably lower turnout than what was expected during the initial stages of the exercise.
While interacting with media persons at the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, All India Congress Committee general secretary K.C. Ve
KV.D. Satheesan and K.C. Venugopal
nugopal also accused the ruling CPI(M) of hijacking the election machinery in an “orchestrated attempt to suppress polling percentage for the benet of the [ruling] Left Democratic Front”.
Addressing a press conference at his oce at North Paravur, Mr. Satheesan accused the Election Commission (EC) of having miserably failed in ensuring free and fair elections in the State. He said in many places, voters had to queue up for hours, many returned after being fed up, and many who returned to the booths weren’t able to vote. “Why was there so much time lag between two voters casting their ballot in some places? Why was polling extended to as late as 10 p.m. even in booths without too many voters? Did ocials deliberately sabotage voting and was there any direction to that eect? All these things should be investigated,” he said.
The Congress leader said electronic voting machines (EVM) snags were widespread in the State, and polling time was not extended to compensate for the lost time. “Why did the Commission spend crores [of rupees] to maximise voter turnout when it couldn’t even make adequate arrangements?” he said.
Mr. Venugopal claimed that around 5% of the polling booths witnessed technical snags in the EVMs and 90% of such polling stations are Congress strongholds. “Senior election ocials including Deputy Collectors and deputy tahsildars have sided with the LDF government to scuttle the process,” he alleged.
Both leaders rejected suggestions that their criticism was borne out of concern over poor results and asserted that the Congressled United Democratic Front will win all 20 seats in Kerala.
“Every single narrative set by the UDF during the election has proved to be right, including the hate campaign by the BJP, people’s ire against the State government and the clandestine nexus between the CPI(M) and the BJP in Kerala,” said Mr. Satheesan.
The EC on Saturday updated the total polling in the April 26 Lok Sabha poll to 71.16% in Kerala.