Did Congress Veteran Chennithala Uncover CPI-M-BJP Links in Voting Fraud?

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 13 (NationPress) Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala highlighted a significant fraud involving the voter list in Kerala, asserting that the scale of manipulation revealed by senior party figure Rahul Gandhi on a national platform reflects a disturbing pattern previously observed in the state.

Chennithala condemned the 'bheinous attempt' to undermine democracy through the addition of tens of thousands of fraudulent votes, labeling it a severe act of treason, while accusing the Election Commission—the authority responsible for maintaining free and fair elections—of becoming a tool for such subversion.

He argued that this incident is part of a larger trend, recalling his own disclosures in 2021 regarding widespread electoral fraud in Kerala.

“On March 17, 2021, during a press conference at the KPCC office, I provided evidence of duplicate and fake votes in the final voter list released ahead of the Assembly elections,” Chennithala stated.

He cited a specific case from the Uduma constituency in Kasaragod, where the information of a 61-year-old voter named Kumari was exploited to create five counterfeit voter IDs, all registered at the same or adjacent polling booths.

Preliminary investigations across seven constituencies uncovered thousands of duplicate entries—including Kazhakoottam (4,506), Kollam (2,534), Thrikkarippur (1,436), Koyilandy (4,611), Nadapuram (6,171), Kuthuparamba (3,525), and Ambalappuzha (4,750).

Subsequent checks across 140 constituencies revealed an estimated 4.34 lakh duplicate or counterfeit votes.

Despite the Election Commission later acknowledging 38,000 duplicate votes and the Kerala High Court ordering their removal by March 31, 2021, Congress leader Chennithala remarked that it remains uncertain how many were actually eliminated.

“Our estimates suggest that the actual number could well exceed one million fraudulent votes—more than sufficient to sway the results of the 2021 elections,” Chennithala noted.

He contended that while the BJP's vote manipulation took place under its central governance, Kerala’s version transpired under the CPI-M’s administration—illustrating how “both parties utilize similar strategies to retain power, often aiding each other in the process.”

The leader posed six critical questions to the Election Commission, including inquiries about the number of identified fraudulent votes removed, accountability, and whether these votes were present in the rolls during the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Finally, he highlighted the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency—won by BJP’s Suresh Gopi—where new allegations of voter list manipulation have emerged.

“It now remains to be seen if the CPI-M intentionally altered the rolls to secure the BJP’s victory (of Suresh Gopi). This could be termed as 'Pooram-style fixing' in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency,” Chennithala concluded.