Congress alleges bogus voting in Dharmadom

Kannur: In what could be an expose that trashes the CPM claim that it never resorted to bogus voting, the Congress on Wednesday approached the Election Commission with purported video evidence of the malpractice at Dharmadom, the constituency from where party politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan is contesting.
District collector P Balakiran has submitted a report to the Election Commission saying that from the visuals broadcast on television channels it is not clear whether they are from this election or from the booths claimed by the complainants.The veracity of these visuals could be ascertained only after checking the original footage, for which the Election Commission has the right, he said.
According to the party leadership, at least 21 cases of voter impersonation have come to light in five booths in Pinarayi panchayat alone and the people who cast bogus votes include a woman panchayat member. The lady whose original vote is in booth number 333 also voted in 132, Congress leaders alleged.
According to complaints filed by T P Hareendran, the election agent of UDF candidate Mambaram Divakaran, CPM workers captured polling booths in many places in Dharmadom constituency and engaged in bogus voting, allegedly, with the support of polling officials. There was an instance in which one person cast eight votes in one polling station, said the complaint.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, DCC president K Surendran said this once again showed the CPM has always resorted to bogus voting despite the security measures taken by the Election Commission.
Chief minister Oommen Chandy, who called the evidence shocking, said if this is the case of one panchayat, there could be similar cases elsewhere.
Home minister Ramesh Chennithala said the visuals show how democracy was sabotaged at Dharmadom and this could not have been possible without the knowledge of the party leadership.
However, the CPM denied the allegations. "The Congress has shown some videos that are not clear, but it is ridiculous to make such claims just because people with similar shirts were seen in two different booths," said K K Ragesh, MP, campaign manager of Pinarayi Vijayan.