CPI demands investigation into ‘electoral fraud’ in Thrissur Lok Sabha polls

The Communist Party of India (CPI) has demanded an investigation into what it alleged was a significant electoral fraud on the voters’ list in the  2024 Thrissur Lok Sabha elections. 

CPI leader V.S. Sunilkumar, who unsuccessfully contested the Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Suresh Gopi, MP, in the Thrissur parliamentary seat told reporters in Thrissur that the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) accusations of voter fraud had assumed political and constitutional gravity in the wake of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, flagging tens of thousands of of fake voters in select constituencies bagged by the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Haryana Assembly polls. 

‘Dilution of evidence’

Mr. Sunilkumar said the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) ‘dilution of rigorous documentary evidence to prove domicile’ had opened the door for large-scale voter fraud in Thrissur. 

“For one, a postcard or courier receipt to a particular address was sufficient to prove that the voter resided there. Such watering down of conditions to establish voter identity opened the door for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), possibly acting in conjunction with the ECI officials, to stack the decks in its favour by fraudulently inserting voters from other districts, including workers from other States, into the electoral rolls in Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency,” he said. 

Mr. Sunilkumar said LDF agents had flagged the alleged fraud to the ECI, to no avail. “When LDF workers challenged suspect voters, election officials insisted that no one can deny persons on the ECI electoral rolls their right to vote,” he said. 

Mr. Sunilkumar noted that Mr. Gandhi had provided empirical proof of ECI adding lakhs of voters without genuine addresses, the names of parents, or photographs and other evidence of identity on electoral rolls in constituencies bagged by the BJP. 

“A single rice picked from the pot will reveal whether the contents are cooked correctly and are edible. Mr. Gandhi has made a strong case for democracy. The integrity of the ECI is now suspect in the public eye. The Supreme Court should order an investigation, lest people lose faith in the electoral process and Indian democracy,” he added. 

‘People need answers’

CPI State secretary Binoy Viswam said the charges raised against the ECI by Mr. Gandhi were grave, and people needed answers. “If Rahul is wrong, prosecute him. If he is proven right, the ECI should resign. Free and fair elections are people’s right. Shame on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing things to such a pass,” he added. 

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said Mr. Gandhi’s revelations were the ice-berg’s tip. “Political nominees of the fascist BJP government have subverted the ECI to aid the Sangh Parivar agenda,” he said.