It is I who decide where to cast my vote, says LDF candidate Sarin, slamming VD Satheesan

Palakkad:   LDF independent candidate P Sarin and his wife Soumya Sarin have come out with explanations in connection with adding their names to voters list. While speaking to reporters at Palakkad on Friday, the couple clarified that the address on their voter ID is the address of their own house in Palakkad. "Isn't it my decision where I vote?" Sarin asked. He further asked which law says that one shouldn't vote from a place where they've lived for over seven years, especially when more than half of that time has been spent living there. 

"Who has the right to tell me that I shouldn't vote here?" Sarin also said that CPM reiterates that both Congress and BJP have added bogus voters to the list.  

Sarin also asked, "What was the basis of the allegation of the opposition leader that I haven't been living in Palakkad for six months? I did have a rented house in Ottappalam, and there is a property in Thiruvilvamala in my mother's name. I visit that place regularly. The upper floor of the house in Palakkad has always been kept empty for me. Do I need to explain to anyone where I stay on which nights?" , he asked. “If the clause for being eligible for voting is to live in one house for six months continuously, will those who live in Bengaluru and overseas become ineligible ? “ Sarin asked.  

Soumya Sarin, wife of Sarin, said that she is cent percent proud of being a voter in Palakkad. "I should never be seen as the wife of a candidate or as a political party worker. I am neither a worker nor a propagandist of any political party. If you look at me as Dr. Soumya Sarin, the person, that's enough. Whatever be the political scenario, there's a minimum level of decency to be maintained. The situation looks like that people who have nothing to do with politics are being dragged into controversies unnecessarily.  It is impossible for a woman with self-respect to tolerate being called a fraud in front of the media," she said.

Soumya Sarin further emphasised that she was born and raised in Palakkad and loved the place the most. "My dream was to live peacefully in Palakkad with my house and property," she said. They had taken a huge  loan to purchase the house, and the loan had just been paid off only a few months ago. The house was bought in 2018, and we  have been living there ever since” , she said.

Before moving to Sharjah for work, she had been working in Nenmara and used to stay on the upper floor of the house during that period, Soumya said.  She also presented the rental agreement for the ground floor, along with other documents related to the house, to the media.