Thiruvananthapuram: Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kerala unit vice-president B Gopalakrishnan has said the party will bring people from other states and settle them in constituencies it intends to win, ensuring their participation in the voting process.
“In constituencies where we intend to win, we will bring people even from Jammu and Kashmir. We will settle them for a year and ensure they participate in the voting process. There is no doubt about it. We will do it again in the future,” Gopalakrishnan was quoted as saying by PTI.
His comments came amid allegations by the Congress of large-scale voter enrolment irregularities in Thrissur ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party has also accused Union minister Suresh Gopi, BJP’s MP from Thrissur, of filing a false declaration to be included in the constituency’s electoral roll.
The BJP won its first Lok Sabha seat in Kerala through Gopi, who defeated VS Sunilkumar of the Communist Party of India by over 74,600 votes. However, the Congress claimed there was a “suspicious and abnormal surge” of 1,46,656 voters in Thrissur between 2019 and 2024, a rise it said was inconsistent with demographic trends.
On Friday, Gopalakrishnan denied charges that the party had used fake addresses for voter enrolment in Thrissur. “There may be one or two cases where allegations were raised that the owner was unaware of how outsiders were included in their address,” he told The Hindu. He also stated that no bogus voting took place in the constituency.
BJP state secretary MT Ramesh also dismissed the accusations, saying only Thrissur residents were enrolled as voters. He pointed out that anyone with one of the six ID proofs recognized by the Election Commission, six months’ residence proof, and neighbor verification could register to vote anywhere in India, including Kashmir. Ramesh alleged that it was the CPI(M) and Congress, not the BJP, that added fake votes, reported PTI.
Responding to the Congress’ charges, Gopi said on August 17 that questions about voter list manipulation should be addressed by the Election Commission. “I am a minister, and I have fulfilled my duties. Those who must reply will reply. If you have more questions, ask them – or wait until the matter comes before the Supreme Court,” he said.
The row follows Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s August 7 claim that discrepancies were found in over one lakh names in the electoral rolls of Mahadevapura Assembly segment in Bangalore Central constituency. Gandhi alleged this was proof of the Election Commission colluding with the BJP, a charge the poll panel rejected on August 13 as “false and misleading”.