Even as the Opposition leaders complained to the Election Commission of India about the “frauds” which could be committed by the BJP  on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, a former chief of the Kerala Police has come out with startling disclosures about how the CPI(M) subvert poll process in Kerala by casting fake and bogus votes with the connivance of friendly  presiding officers.

TP Senkumar, who retired as chief of Kerala Police in June 2017, says in his service story that there is blatant violation of all democratic norms by the CPI(M) cadre in the State. “Elections  are manipulated using all kinds of methods which include threats, physical assaults and impersonation with the connivance of the presiding officers,” Senkumar has written in Ente Police Jeevitham (My Life in Police) , his memoirs which was released on Sunday. Interestingly, 18 booths in Kerala’s Kannur and Kasargod districts had  re-poll on Sunday as per the  directives of the EC following reports of widespread impersonation and casting of fake votes.

As a young superintendent of police in Thalassery , Senkumar had to stand helplessly outside the booth as many persons (women and men)  cast fake and bogus votes with the connivance of the presiding officers. “I saw a woman entering the polling booth and casting her vote with the claim that she was the wife of Hareendranath. Strangely, Hareendranath , was the booth agent of the Opposition candidate and  protested against the woman being allowed to vote because she was not his wife. But the presiding officer as well as the agents of of the CPI(M) candidate shouted him down and warned him that they would chop  his hand if he utter a word. Even as Hareendranath watched with shock , the lady who claimed that she was his wife, cast the vote and  went out of  the polling booth, “ reminiscences Senkumar.

“Two young assistant superintendents of police who were on polling duty saw a woman casting votes 33 times in a booth in Kannur district. When one of the ASPs asked the presiding officer how a person was casting 33 votes in a single booth, the latter told him to mind his own work and not to interfere in what was happening inside the booth. The police is not authorised to enter the booth without authorisation by the presiding  officer. The presiding officer as well as the polling officer threatened the ASPs that if they  complained to the authorities about casting of bogus votes, they would not be allowed to live peacefully in the State,” Senkumar quotes the officers as telling him.

The  former police chief has called for the immediate introduction of biometric system as well as linking of  Aadhaar Card for foolproof election process. The CPI(M) cadre in the State identify those people whose names figure in the voters list but who are not present at the time of election and  cast their votes through party workers.