Kerela elections: 83,998 ‘double voters’ cut in Idukki but questions remain

By: Prasanth Perumpillil TNNIDUKKI: As the issue of double voting in Lok Sabha and assembly elections has been settled once and for all and 83,998 voters were removed owing to special intensive revision (SIR) of the list, a crucial question arises: Which political front will be hit the most by the downsize?The ‘double voters' reportedly possessed identity documents such as Aadhaar and ration cards in both Kerala and Tamil Nadu, enabling them to vote in both states. They are concentrated mainly in Peermade, Devikulam and Udumbanchola taluks, which share borders with Tamil Nadu's Cumbum and Theni assembly segments as well as Theni Lok Sabha constituency. The number of voters in the district has come down from 8,89,425 to 8,05,427. The biggest decline was recorded in Devikulam, where 27,135 voters' names were removed. Thodupuzha (2,869) recorded the least cut. During the 2024 general elections, there were 8,92,313 voters across five constituencies in the district. Compared to that, the current list shows a reduction of 86,886 voters. The issue had triggered conflicts during 2021 assembly elections.All three major political fronts have influence on these voters as a majority of plantation workers are part of trade unions. These same parties are alleged to have helped the workers obtain ration cards and voter IDs in Kerala using temporary addresses although they had permanent addresses and voter registration in Tamil Nadu.In the revision process, deceased voters, duplicate entries and those who failed to submit enumeration forms were removed from the list. Eligible voters who were left out had opportunities to re-register through Akshaya centres and public service centres before the final list was published.The political impact of this large-scale revision remains uncertain. It is widely believed that many of those removed from Udumbanchola and Devikulam were double voters, predominantly Tamil-origin plantation workers. Many of them own houses in both Kerala and Tamil Nadu.According to Idukki district election deputy collector Sheeba Mathew, the decline in voter numbers is mainly because those with double registrations shifted their votes to Tamil Nadu due to SIR.