Congress leader T.N. Prathapan alleges BJP Central leadership manipulated voters’ list in Thrissur, seeks judicial probe

T.N. Prathapan, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Political Affairs Committee member and former MLA, has levelled a serious allegation that the BJP’s Central leadership manipulated the 2023-24 voters’ list update in Kerala by influencing a private software company engaged by the Election Commission of India, enabling last-minute inclusion of more than 30,000 fake votes in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency. He has a sought judicial investigation into the irregularities.

“This is not just a violation of election rules, it is a criminal conspiracy carried out with the knowledge of the Election Commission,” Mr. Prathapan alleged.

“The draft voter list was verified by booth level agents (BLAs) of political parties, and necessary additions and deletions were made at that stage. Yet, when the final list came out, many unfamiliar names had mysteriously appeared. Voters from Malappuram, Palakkad, and Ernakulam districts, from outside the Thrissur constituency, and even from other States, were added here,” he said.

Mr. Prathapan said BJP State vice president V. Unnikrishnan himself admitted to leading a year-and-a-half-long campaign in Thrissur to get names added to the electoral rolls. Statements by BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, he added, indirectly acknowledged the wrongdoing, while former BJP State president K. Surendran’s remarks amounted to “an open confession” that the party orchestrated the fraud.

“The criminal nature of these irregularities is beyond doubt. Cases must be registered, and an investigation under court supervision is the only way to uncover the truth,” Mr. Prathapan said.