Lok Sabha Elections: Congress moves Kerala High Court alleging voter fraud by CPI(M) in Vadakara

A petition has been filed before the Kerala High Court alleging that members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) are engaging in voter fraud in the Vadakara Parliamentary constituency [Advocate K Praveen Kumar v. The Election Commission of India & Ors.]..The petition has been filed by advocate Praveen Kumar who is the Chief Election Agent of Indian National Congress (INC) candidate, Shafi Parambil. .The Lok Sabha election in the constituency, which is scheduled to take place on April 26, is expected to be a close race between Parambil and CPI(M)'s KK Shailaja.Shailaja was the Health Minister of Kerala during the previous left government and had received widespread acclaim for her tackling of Nipah virus outbreak in 2018 and COVID in 2020. .In his petition, Kumar has claimed that CPI(M) cadres cast bogus votes in every election in the constituency in the names of persons who are dead or abroad or working elsewhere. He also alleged that there are polling officers and police officers who have affiliations with the CPI(M) party.It was contended that unless the entire polling process is videographed as per the circulars issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI), fairness cannot be ensured in the upcoming polls. Kumar also pointed out that a country bomb was set off recently in the area which according to police reports was allegedly done by CPI(M) workers.This shows that there is a high chance that voters and rival party workers could be attacked on the day of the election, he argued. Therefore, he urged the Court to order the ECI and the Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala, to deploy central forces in the 1,186 polling booths at the Vadakara constituency. He also sought orders to video record the entire polling process in the 1,186 booths without compromising the anonymous nature of voting. .A similar petition was filed by the Chief Election Agent of another Congress candidate, Adoor Prakash, who is standing for election from the Attingal constituency. This petition alleged that there has been fraud in the preparation of voters list as those entrusted with it are employees of the State government. The petitioner, Varkala Kahar, contended that there are double entries in the voters list and that the same has been confirmed via an RTI query as well. On this ground, Kahar prayed that the names that appear twice be identified and not be allowed to cast their votes in more than one place. He also sought for deployment of central forces at all booths in the constituency. .Justice Shoba Annamma Eapen today adjourned both matters to be heard together on April 19..The petitioners in both cases were represented by Senior Advocate George Poonthottam and advocates Nisha George, AL Navaneeth Krishnan and Sidharth R Wariyar