Congress levels vote-for-cash allegation in Palakkad; BJP denies
Congress alleged that Sobha Surendran, the BJP candidate of the Palakkad constituency in Kerala, was “caught red-handed distributing” cash to voters ahead of April 9 elections to the State Assembly. Surendran denied the allegations, calling them “fabricated” to defeat her.
He alleged that a local Congress leader and a journalist of a TV channel were behind the allegations, and she would be filing a police case against them.
The BJP leader claimed that a video aired on TV channels, showing some women “offering something” to an elderly woman in her constituency, was wrongly projected by the Congress and the journalist to allege that she offered money for votes.
Visuals aired on TV channels show a woman offering something to the elderly woman, and thereafter, another group goes to her and opens her hand to reveal a small roll of `500 currency notes.
Based on the video, it was alleged that the elderly woman was given money by someone in the BJP candidate’s campaign team.
However, the elderly woman denied having received any money, but admitted to having asked for Rs 5,000 for buying medicines.
The visuals also showed Surendran getting out of her car and arguing with a few men who had shot the video, questioning how they could take her visuals without her permission. Surendran claimed that she got out of the car as one of the men made “sexually harassing gestures” at her.
Following the incident, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, in a post on X, alleged, “The BJP candidate in Palakkad is caught red-handed distributing cash on the eve of elections. All this, while the Election Commission is asleep and blissfully unaware of the electoral malpractice. It is in the BJP’s DNA to manipulate elections, no matter what, no matter where”.
“This is a crime, and the candidate must be punished for this blatant violation of election norms. She does not have the legal and moral standing to continue on the ballot,” Venutgopal said in the post.
He said giving money to influence voters was a very serious violation of the election rules, and the BJP has been doing this in several places to sabotage elections, he said in a statement.
While the UDF was adhering to EC norms to not show political advertisements on TV channels and online platforms, the LDF and BJP were violating them, Venugopal, the Alappuzha MP, said.
The ECI, meanwhile, noted that political advertisements are appearing on channels and online platforms in violation of poll norms during the silent campaign period and sought that they be withdrawn immediately.
“It has been observed that many channels are violating these instructions. Cases will be registered against those who violate the instructions,” it warned.
Besides this, the CPI(M) alleged that in one well-known constituency, over 300 bottles of liquor were found in a booth-level office of a prominent political party, but the seizure of only a small number was recorded. It has sought ECI’s intervention in the matter.
