The Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Congress hurled allegations of ‘double vote’ against BJP Thrissur MP and Union MoS Suresh Gopi in the wake of the latter voting in Tuesday’s local body elections in Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation limits.
Gopi, along with his wife and family members, cast his vote at a polling booth in Sasthamangalam ward in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday as part of the first phase of the elections to the three-tier local bodies in Kerala. The allegations arose because the BJP leader, and a few of his family members had voted at a polling booth in Nettissery in Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency last year.
Gopi had shifted his vote to Thrissur last year claiming that he was a permanent resident in that constituency. However, it appears his voting right in the three-tier local body elections, which uses a separate voter list and is conducted by the State Election Commission (SEC), remains in Thiruvananthapuram.
CPI leader VS Sunil Kumar and Gopi’s rival in the 2024 election claimed that the BJP MP has flouted Election Commission’s rules.
“He (Gopi) added his name to the voter list last year in Thrissur claiming he was a permanent resident here. Hundreds of names were also added fraudulently by the BJP of people claiming to be ordinary residents. Now, in the local body elections, Gopi has voted in Sasthamangalam. He has to explain why he did this. The Election Commission also must answer,” Kumar told reporters.
{{/usCountry}}“He (Gopi) added his name to the voter list last year in Thrissur claiming he was a permanent resident here. Hundreds of names were also added fraudulently by the BJP of people claiming to be ordinary residents. Now, in the local body elections, Gopi has voted in Sasthamangalam. He has to explain why he did this. The Election Commission also must answer,” Kumar told reporters.
{{/usCountry}}Kumar had filed a complaint with the ECI previously alleging fraudulent addition of voters to the list in Thrissur at the behest of Gopi and the BJP. However, the complaint wasn’t acted upon.
Joseph Tajat, district president of the Congress in Thrissur, also hit out at Gopi over the same charges.
“He has cheated the people of Thrissur by falsely claiming that he is a permanent resident here. He must apologise to the public and resign as MP,” said Tajat.
However, the BJP rejected the allegations, claiming that Gopi does not enjoy double voting rights in the local body polls.
Karamana Jayan, Thiruvananthapuram district president of the BJP, told HT, “The voter list for the local body polls is separate from the one used for the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. Gopi’s name in the local body polls remains in Thiruvananthapuram. That’s why he voted here. He has not removed his name from the list here or added it there in Thrissur. Such allegations are baseless.”
HT reached out to both ECI and SEC officials for comment on the matter. Both officials did not respond to calls for comment.