'I have only voted once'; Twenty20's candiate Veena Nair

Twenty20's Ettumanoor candidate, Veena Nair, on Thursday said that she was under the impression that her name would be on the 2026 assembly elections voters' list, since she had voted in the 2020 local body polls. She also said that it was the only time she had voted.

Veena had to withdraw from contesting the 2026 assembly elections as a Twenty20 candidate for Ettumanoor after her name was not on the newly revised voters' list. She claimed that the alleged administrative delay in processing her voter enrollment application before the March 23 deadline for submitting a nomination would lead to rejection of her candidature.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Veena said she had only voted once, for BJP's Prasanna Kumari during the 2020 Local Body Polls. Calling it her first voting experience, Veena also admitted that she had not voted after that, as she was in Dubai during the 2021 Assembly Elections and in the hospital during the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

"The last time I voted, it was for the BJP's Prasanna Kumari teacher. I have not voted in the parliament elections. That was my only vote," Veena said. She added that she had posted about the experience on Facebook, saying that her first vote was for the party that she likes the most.

She also admitted that, while she knew that Local Body Polls and Lok Sabha elections have different voters' lists, it did not occur to her at the time. "My thought was that I voted, so I have a vote," Veena said.

Veena added that while these are things that all Indian citizens should be aware of, one must check how many Keralites actually know these.

When asked about her choice to stay away from voting, Veena responded, saying, "I voted in the year that I felt like voting. I should only vote when I feel like it, right? Why should I vote before that?" She added that it was her personal preference and that she had voted when she agreed with the party's policies.

Veena said she only found out that her name had been left off the voters' list when she checked the details on March 17, after she decided to contest.

"I had voted before in Changanassery, but could not vote afterwards. So I was thinking that since I had voted back then, I would have a vote there and thought that I won't have to worry about it," Veena said.

It was later, when she was seeking to comply with the Election Commission's guidelines for contesting in a constituency while being a voter elsewhere, that she discovered her name had been omitted.

Veena said that despite the setback, she would continue to be part of the Twenty20 NDA alliance and would back whichever candidate the party assigns.