Kerala's Electoral Officer Disputes Congress' Allegations of Poor Election Management

Rahul Gandhi

Sanjay Kaul, Kerala's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), refuted the Congress's allegations of mishandling of the state's Lok Sabha elections.

Following voting for Lok Sabha Elections 2024 on Friday, which saw a voter turnout of 71.16 per cent, down from 77.67 per cent in 2019, Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, who is running for Alappuzha, criticised the election's management, calling it the "worst-ever" and attributing the drop in turnout to poor management, reported IANS.

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Venugopal claimed that election delays disproportionately affected booths where the Congress-led UDF had an advantage, implying bias in the process. He blamed pro-Left officials for arranging the delays, stating that voters were disenfranchised owing to mistakes in the voter roll, reported the news agency.

KC Venugopal said, "Polling got delayed much beyond the scheduled time and it has now come to our notice that 90 per cent of the booths where the polling got delayed were those where the Congress-led UDF had a clear edge."

He further said: "The voters' list was prepared by these staff members and many voters after coming to the polling booths realized that their names are not included in the list. Despite all such negative tactics, the Congress-led UDF will win all the 20 seats."

In response, Kaul defended the voting process, stressing the efficient operation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the timely conclusion of polling in the majority of booths. He added that delays were caused mostly by an increase in voter arrivals, which necessitated document verification.

Kaul promised voters that anyone who arrived before the allotted closing time would be accommodated, safeguarding their right to vote. He also emphasised the use of software to dispatch poll officials, which reduces external intervention. He confirmed that officials received extensive training and praised the high voting participation despite difficult meteorological and political conditions.

"Compared to the previous polls, this time the functioning of the EVMs was excellent. In 95 per cent of the 25,231 booths, polling got over at 6 pm and by 8 pm, polling was completed in 99 per cent of the booths. It was in a few booths at the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency, where polling continued beyond 8 pm," said the CEO, per the IANS report.

He added, "The delay occurred because of the arrival of a good number of voters and the poll officials took time to verify their documents. Every voter who arrived at the booth before 6 p.m. was given a coupon and everyone was allowed to vote. Like always, this time too, all the poll officials were given extensive training. Considering the unfavourable climatic conditions and also the political events, the turnout was excellent."