Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has demanded a ‘comprehensive inquiry’ by the Election Commission of India (ECI) ‘into the terrible mismanagement’ of the Lok Sabha polls held in Kerala on April 26.
The move comes close on the heels of Congress leaders, including All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal, accusing the CPI(M) of using its heft among left-leaning service organisations to delay polling in booths where the UDF enjoyed an upper hand.
Mr. Venugopal had accused the CPI(M) of hijacking the election machinery. In an open letter to the ECI, Mr. Satheesan articulated the UDF’s frustration by stating that the ‘most important festival of democracy’ was anything but ‘free, fair and seamless.’
Mr. Satheesan spotlighted the common complaint that mismanagement had caused a delay in voting. The election staff seemed untrained.
Reasons for long queues
The delay between exercising the franchise and recording the vote electronically was notably long. EVM malfunctions, delays in repairing or replacing the voting machines, and general official inefficiency led to voters waiting in long queues in the sweltering heat in front of polling stations. This resulted in several persons, including senior citizens, being forced to return home without casting their votes.
Mr. Satheesan said scores of voters who reached polling stations before 6 p.m. were unable to exercise their franchise. He said poll officials refused to extend voting time in booths where faulty voting machines had delayed balloting.
Mr. Satheesan accused officials in specific polling booths of being apathetic to the plight of voters lining up under a scorching sun to cast their ballots. He said the election machinery should have removed obsolete and double votes from electoral lists.
LDF response
The LDF has seen no merit in the Opposition’s complaints and alleged that a visceral fear of defeat had prompted the UDF to take advance bail by blaming the poll process.
Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kaul said the surge in voters after 5 p.m. caused some delay in specific booths, mostly in Vadakara. Poll officials required a reasonable window of time to verify voters’ identity proof and ensure accuracy in polling. If at all, diligence and due vigilance caused the delay.
He said the EVM malfunction rate was minimal compared to past elections. “Only 2.1% of voter-verifiable paper audit trails (VVPAT) machines malfunctioned. All the serious complaints related to duplicate entries in the electoral rolls were examined, but “no substantial issues” were found, Mr. Kaul added.
