Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], March 27 : The Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged that officials from the Labour Department have been deployed for election duties in Nemom, where Labour Minister V Sivankutty is contesting against the BJP's Kerala President Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
According to the party, around 90 officials have been appointed with "malafide intent." The BJP has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission over the issue.
The complaint filed by BJP State General Secretary S Suresh alleged that the deputed officials were working under Sivankutty's administrative control prior. "Their continued involvement in the conduct of the election is creating a prejudice against the BJP Candidate, and there are circumstances indicating that they are acting in a manner detrimental to other candidates and in favour of the said Minister," he said.
S Suresh also alleged that a candidate, Rajeev Kumar, whose name is similar to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, was assigned a symbol similar to the BJP's lotus, creating confusion for voters.
He added that the issue was "rectified only upon strong protest from our side. In light of the above, there exists a bona fide and reasonable apprehension that such biased and prejudicial actions may be repeated by the concerned officials, including on the polling day."
BJP urged ECI to take appropriate steps be taken to ensure the fairness and integrity of the electoral process, including the recall or removal of such officials and the rectification of the symbol allotment so as to prevent voter confusion.
Kerala legislative assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 9, with counting of votes scheduled for May 4. The tenure of the current assembly is set to conclude on May 23.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, the LDF retained power with 99 seats, marking a historic consecutive victory. The UDF secured 41 seats, while the NDA failed to win a single seat despite an 11.4 per cent vote share. The CPI(M) emerged as the single largest party with 62 seats, while the Congress won 21 seats.
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