'Did not add her own son in voters' list': BJP Kasaragod president ML Ashwini under fire ahead of counting

Kasaragod: With counting day on May 4 approaching, BJP district president M L Ashwini (40) is facing mounting criticism from within her party over the handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the addition of new voters.

Party leaders allege serious lapses. “She wanted to contest in Manjeshwar but did not add her own son’s name to the voters’ list,” said a leader. Another claimed that as many as 60 voters from her own booth were added only after K Surendran entered the fray in Manjeshwar. “She failed in handling the SIR across Kasaragod, not just in Manjeshwar,” he said, adding that applications were not resubmitted for voters whose names were removed citing absence or relocation.

Of the roughly 20,000 new voters added in Manjeshwar, around 14,000 are believed to have been enrolled by the UDF. BJP workers allege that the party initially added fewer than 1,000 voters, and only after Surendran’s intervention did the number rise to around 4,000. Of the 16,000 names deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list, nearly 11,000 are said to be BJP supporters.

The claim that Ashwini could not include even her own son’s name in the voters’ list has triggered sharp criticism, with detractors calling it a sign of organisational failure. They point to weak booth-level monitoring and the absence of a coordinated system to manage voter list revision.

Leaders say the SIR process and new enrolments have widened the gap between the UDF and the BJP in both Manjeshwar and Kasaragod constituencies.

Ashwini, who contested from Kasaragod constituency, rejected the allegations as “baseless and childish". Yet, she admitted her son’s name was not on the voters’ list but said it was not for lack of effort. “We applied online but it was rejected,” she told Onmanorama, without elaborating.

Her critics remain unconvinced. “She should explain why. Did her son not turn 18?” a leader remarked. Dismissing reports of dissent emerging from a review meeting, Ashwini said no such meeting had taken place and alleged a “planned attempt” to defame her and the party through fabricated news. She accused a section of the media of attempting character assassination and said complaints would be filed with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the News Broadcasters & Digital Association, along with defamation proceedings.

However, some within the party said her attack on the media reflected a lack of political maturity. “Instead of letting it pass, her public statements have only drawn more attention to her ineptness,” a leader said.

Her detractors predicted the BJP could face larger defeat margins in Kasaragod and Manjeshwar than in the previous election, and warned of possible turmoil in the five local bodies it controls in the district, after the results. To be sure, all five are in Kasaragod assembly constituency. “Except in Madhur panchayat, we don’t have a clear majority elsewhere. After the election, the UDF and the LDF are likely to come together in the remaining four panchayats,” a leader said.