‘Faulty’ voter list for Thrissur LS poll sparks political firestorm

In the wake of a controversy over what is contended to be a faulty voters’ list for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, many apartments in the Thrissur constituency are waking up to hitherto ‘unknown’ residents in their housing complexes.

The first whiff of irregularity came from the Capital Village apartments near Punkunnam. Residents were stunned to discover that nine names had quietly made it to the voters’ list under the address of flat “4C” — without the actual occupants knowing a thing about it.  

“I’ve lived here for four years, and I have no idea who these people are,” says Prasanna Ashokan, who resides in flat 4C. In a bizarre twist, the father’s name listed alongside each of the nine entries was different, which further fuelled suspicions of deliberate fraud.  

The Congress flagged more examples of alleged fraud. Former councillor Vatsala Baburaj said 79 names were suspiciously added to the rolls in the Inland Udaya flat at Udaya Nagar, with another 38 in the neighbouring Water Lily complex. “We had caught it just in time,” she said. “After we alerted the District Collector, polling officials blocked these votes on election day. Out of all those names, only one person actually managed to cast a ballot.”  

When contacted, the then booth level officer (BLC) Anand C. Menon at Punkunnam maintained that he had submitted all the information and complaints he received to his superiors before the election.  

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, however, dismissed the allegations as politically motivated. Senior leader V. Muraleedharan downplayed the controversy, questioning why no objections were raised when the draft voters’ list was published. “Even if there were 11 bogus votes, BJP candidate Suresh Gopi still won by a margin of 75,000 votes,” he said.

BJP State general secretary M.T. Ramesh laughed at it as a case of “sour grapes.”  

V.S. Sunilkumar, Left Democratic Front candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Thrissur, slammed what he called the Election Commission’s “irresponsible attitude” towards the allegations. “Instead of announcing an inquiry when such a serious complaint is raised against a constitutional body, it is telling us to file an affidavit,” he said.

Mr. Sunilkumar argued that the real issue was the abuse of Form 6. “To add a voter to a constituency, the minimum legal requirement is six months of residence in that place. That must be verified before the name is added. But ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the process was made absurdly easy,” he alleged.

Union Minister of State for Petroleum Suresh Gopi, who represents the constituency, was not available for response. When contacted, his secretary Rajesh Nair at his Thrissur office said the Minister was in Parliament and could not be contacted.