Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kaul on Friday said that the Election Commission has asked the State Police Chief to investigate into the allegation on fake identity cards raised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State President K Surendran.
"I learnt of the allegation from the newspaper. A complaint was filed by a political party following this. We are examining if such bogus cards were printed as part of the Youth Congress elections. If true, there will be an investigation to find out who did this," Kaul said.
He added that the Election Commission has demanded an explanation from the Youth Congress on the matter. The Chief Electoral Officer also expressed confidence that it was nearly impossible to generate the new voter identity cards with authentication features like hologram.
Surendran had alleged that the Congress produced 1.25 lakh fake identity cards for the recently held Youth Congress elections. "Though the cards were used for the Youth Congress' organizational election, it is an issue affecting national security," Surendran said.
"The fake identity cards were made using mobile applications. Congress MLA from Palakkad is behind this. A complaint has been lodged with the DGP and central agencies regarding the incident," he added. Surendran also accused leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge of hiding the matter.
Palakkad MLA Shafi Parampil has denied the allegations saying that it was Surendran's attempt to stay politically relevant. Shafi added that he was contemplating legal action against the leader after consulting experts.
Rahul Mamkoottathil was elected the state president of the Indian Youth Congress on November 14. Abin Varkey came second. Both Rahul and Abin were general secretaries in the previous state committee headed by Shafi Parambil. Rahul and Abin have dismissed the allegations raised by Surendran.
