The Congress has accused the CPI(M) of trying to sabotage the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Kozhikode district.
District Congress Committee president K. Praveenkumar told the media on Monday that booth-level officers (BLO), who prepare and revise the electoral rolls in each constituency, had held meetings at CPI(M) offices at Onchiyam, Ulliyeri, Mavoor, and Kozhikode city. He said that the BLOs work directly under the Election Commission of India and were not supposed to have party affiliations. “We have filed a complaint with the commission. If no action is taken, we will approach the court,” Mr. Praveen Kumar said.
Also, the Congress leader alleged that the names of 6,000 CPI(M) workers had been simultaneously found in the electoral rolls of Vadakara, Nadapuram and Kuttiyadi Assembly constituencies. “This was detected during an inspection done by a private agency commissioned by myself and Indian Union Muslim League candidate Parakkal Abdulla, who was defeated by a slender margin in Kuttiyadi in the 2021 Assembly polls. Those people might have voted for the Left Democratic Front candidates in all the three constituencies,” he said. Mr. Praveenkumar had unsuccessfully contested the polls from Nadapuram. He said that the Congress was now conducting a detailed study of the electoral roll in other Assembly constituencies.
Meanwhile, Mr. Praveenkumar also alleged that the Kozhikode Corporation had violated protocol while placing an advertisement related to the opening of food street on the Kozhikode beach on February 26. M.K. Raghavan, Kozhikode MP, was placed second to Elamaram Kareem, Rajya Sabha MP. “This is a bid to support Mr. Kareem, who is expected to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Kozhikode. A complaint has been filed with the Lok Sabha Speaker,” he added.
