Vote theft claims against Suresh Gopi’s win: Senior BJP leader says Jammu and Kashmir people will be brought to vote

Thrissur: Senior BJP leader B Gopalakrishnan has claimed that people from Jammu and Kashmir will be brought to constituencies where his party aims to win and temporarily settled to cast votes. His remarks came amid UDF-LDF allegations of voter list rigging in Thrissur, where Suresh Gopi became Kerala’s first BJP MP.

"We will bring people from Jammu and Kashmir to constituencies we intend to win, have them stay for a year, and get them to vote. That will happen tomorrow as well," Gopalakrishnan said. He clarified that such plans are currently not intended for assembly elections but had been considered for the Lok Sabha.

Gopalakrishnan stressed that this is not equivalent to fraudulent voting. "Voting in the name of a deceased person or one individual casting two votes is what constitutes rigging. People can be added to the voter list at any address. We will add votes extensively to win. There is no doubt about that," he added.

UDF-LDF alliance criticised

He further remarked that UDF and LDF collaborate in many places to defeat the BJP. "If there is no moral issue with that, there is no moral problem with this (adding voters to list) either," Gopalakrishnan said.

In Thrissur, Suresh Gopi won by a margin of 74,682 votes. The Congress vote count fell from 4.16 lakh in 2019 to 3.27 lakh in 2024. "Where did the remaining 90,000 votes go?" Gopalakrishnan questioned.