Thrissur: At a time when opposition parties across the country are raising strong objections over alleged inclusion of fake voters in electoral rolls, a woman from Kerala’s Thrissur has claimed that nine people have been fraudulently registered at her residential address without her knowledge.
Prasanna, a resident of the Capital Village Apartments in Poonkunnam, told reporters that she is the only member of her family entitled to vote in Thrissur city, while other adult family members are registered in their native village of Poochinipadam. She said she made the discovery when she checked the voter list to verify her own entry.
“I have never heard of these individuals. We have been living here for four years, and adding names to our address without consent is wrong,” she said, adding that she has lodged a complaint with the district collector.
The CPI(M) alleged that similar irregularities have been detected in other apartment complexes in Poonkunnam. According to party workers, addresses of vacant flats were used to shift votes from other districts. Former CPI(M) candidate V.S. Sunil Kumar accused the Election Commission of enabling such malpractice, claiming that in one polling booth alone, 280 applications were filed at once, including names of people from other constituencies and migrant labourers. He also criticised the EC for allowing voter registration using postal cards as proof of address.
Thrissur was the only Lok Sabha seat in Kerala won by the BJP in the 2024 general election, where Suresh Gopi defeated LDF’s Sunil Kumar and UDF’s K. Muraleedharan.
Reacting to the fresh allegations, Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan demanded a thorough investigation and accused the BJP of manipulating voter rolls to weaken the process of free and fair elections. He praised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for bringing alleged electoral fraud to public attention and urged citizens to unite against “fascism, autocracy, and communalism.”