Thiruvananthapuram: It took 10 years and the direct involvement of 2,500 technical experts in 140 Assembly constituencies for the Congress to launch 'Operation Twins,' a massive mission to check bogus voting.
The party's efforts did not go in vain as it found lakhs of bogus or duplicated names in the electoral rolls for the April 6 Assembly polls. The issue reached the High Court and the Election Commission had to admit to irregularities.
The tech team, however, is not resting. They are still scrutinizing the rolls. The Congress's plan now is to prepare a list of 25 lakh suspected bogus voters. The list would be made available at the booth-level in a bid to prevent bogus votes.
Calculated move
The diminishing margin in the vote shares of LDF and UDF made the Congress leadership suspicious in 2011, though the Front it led assumed power. The Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019 did not show a decreasing trend in the margin. But the suspicion was strengthened when the LDF trounced the UDF in 2016.
The Congress decided for a state-wide probe in 2020 when the LDF garnered more-than-expected vote share.
Scientific probe
A team of experts, including a retired professor from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), was formed to launch 'Operation Twins' under Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala. Booth management committees (BMCs) were formed across the State to coordinate the efforts.
Party workers in all the 140 constituencies were trained to find irregularities, and experts from the BMC visited the segments to take up charge. The probe reached a turning point when the experts found a disproportionate increase in women voters in several constituencies.
Booth-level inspection
The Congress examined the electoral rolls collected from taluk offices, and those found suspicious were checked at the booth level. Such a close scrutiny soon yielded results.
Duplication of names in the electoral rolls, and the forging of voters' ID cards without the voters' knowledge in several constituencies were confirmed through technical expertise. Once confirmed, the Congress decided to go public, and also to approach the Election Commission with a complaint.
Though the duplication of names may happen, the creation of multiple voters' ID cards using the photograph of the same voter gave the issue a serious dimension.
The Congress leadership has asked its workers to step in to check bogus voting, after the Election Commission told the High Court that only 38,586 double votes were found. In his petition, Chennithala had claimed over 4 lakh fake entries were made in the voters' list prepared for 131 out of the 140 Assembly segments.
The party has already provided the list of suspected bogus voters to constituency-level activists. A separate digital platform has been created to communicate with those assigned to check irregularities in individual constituencies. The Operation Twins website is accessible to the members of the public.
Those at the booth-level have been asked to check 100 votes in each booth, and to list duplicated and fake votes. The party also has plans to cross-check the list the Election Commission would provide on polling day. Anticipating opposition to the move, Chennithala had written to the Election Commission, seeking protection to agents at the booths.
Well-planned move
"The irregularities in the voters' list is the result of a well-planned statewide move. Despite a list of 4.34 lakh voters was handed over to the Election Commission with evidence, it could not find the irregularities. Booth-level officers could find the irregularities only in their respective booths. They are still unable to find irregularities in multiple booths and constituencies," Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said.
