Kerala: Sreena to be dropped from voter list post poll

Kottayam: Following the removal of her name from ration card, Congress Pathanamthitta district panchayat member Sreena Devi Kunjamma's name will be deleted from the voters' list as well. An order regarding this was issued by the Adoor revenue divisional officer (RDO) on Tuesday. However, since no one's vote can be denied as the assembly election notification was issued on Monday, Kunjamma will be retained in the voters' list until the election is over and removed from it as stated in the order.

Kunjamma's name was included in the ration card of the late Yashoda's house at Manakkala in Erathu grama panchayat, where she stayed initially as a tenant and later reportedly as an owner of a one-cent land in that compound. Her election documents were based on that ration card.

Sreejith S Pillai, one of Yashoda's children, lodged a complaint with Adoor RDO requesting the removal of Kunjamma from the list of voters in his house following which an order was issued. It was confirmed that Kunjamma is not a resident of the address mentioned by the complainant. Furthermore, an opportunity was given to present documents proving her residency under that house, but no document or evidence was submitted. In this context, the RDO's order stated that Kunjamma's name would be removed from the voters' list of polling booth no. 189 in Adoor constituency as per Form 7.

A week ago, the supply officer cancelled the ration card containing Kunjamma's name. The action was taken based on a complaint from the cardholder's children, stating that the name was added with incorrect information. Kunjamma's name was added as the daughter of the cardholder's brother-in-law but the complaint stated that the cardholder had no brother-in-law.

In the 2020 local body elections, Kunjamma contested and won from Pallikkal division as a CPI candidate. She left the party and joined Congress. She later contested and won as a UDF candidate to the district panchayat from the same division last year. The first complaint against Kunjamma was submitted to the supply officer in Jan this year. The complainants claim that they became aware of Kunjamma's name on the ration card when the SIR information was checked in Dec last year.

Meanwhile, Kunjamma said that an appeal would be filed to the district collector against the action to remove her name. If necessary, she would move the court, she said. "Efforts are under way to disqualify me," said Kunjamma, who said the turn of events was politically motivated.