Kannur: District Election officer and Collector Arun K Vijayan on Saturday suspended a Booth Level Officer (BLO) and polling official for violating vote-from-home rules in the Kannur constituency. The Collector took the decision based on a complaint of impersonation filed by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) against the BLO, Geetha, who handled Booth number 70 in the constituency.
As per the complaint, Geetha let V Kamalakshi cast the vote instead of the actual voter K Kamalakshi, on April 15, through the vote-from-home facility.
The Kannur assembly constituency Assistant Returning Officer also filed a complaint related to the matter with the Town police station. The Collector sought advice on the validity of Kamalakshi’s vote and further proceedings with the election commission. He took action as per the Representation of People Act (RPA) and IPC 171 F and asked Assistant Collector Anoop Gargh and District Law Officer A Raj to submit a report on the matter within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, LDF convenor E P Jayarajan alleged that the Congress workers are casting fake votes in fear of failure.