Chief electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena yesterday confirmed of bogus votes being cast in Kannur constituency in general elections. Earlier two women casting bogus votes were caught in the CCTV footage exposed by Congress.
Confirming the earlier news of bogus votes being cast in Kannur and Kasaragod by members of the CPM Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena said that bogus voting actually took place in the constituency. The party members of CPM casting bogus votes was exposed when the Congress put out the video footage of polling in these booths. When the video was exposed CPM had claimed that these were ‘open votes’. These votes were cast in the evening when the polling station experienced huge rush.
The three women who cast their votes were identified as Padmini, Saleena and Sumayya, of which Saleena and Sumayya were identified as Panchayat members.
“We took the statement of the polling officer at the booth. They admitted that the incident took place there. However, they did not realise this as the polling agent of the Opposition party, the UDF, was not present at the booth. Polling officers are from a different place; they don’t know the local people,” said Teeka Ram Meena while speaking to TNM.
“Regarding the fake votes, we will send a report to the Election Commission of India. The ECI will take a final decision accordingly,” he added.