Youth Congress elections: Kerala Police investigate DYFI’s accusation of ECI voter identity theft for manipulation

Kerala Police register case on Left youth org's complaint of "dubious electors" using fake ECI voter ID cards to rig Youth Congress elections. FIR includes online identity theft, forgery, fraud. Special police team with cyber-forensic experts to investigate. ECI seeks report, YC leader denies charge, KPCC, BJP, CPI(M) call for investigation.

The Museum police in Thiruvananthapuram have registered a case based on a Left youth organisation’s complaint that “dubious electors” had used bogus Election Commission of India (ECI) voter ID cards as “feigned” digital proof of identity to possibly rig the online Youth Congress (YC) elections in Kerala and tilt the playing field to advantage a particular faction.

An estimated 7.5 lakh persons participated in the YC elections that saw the elevation of YC leader Rahul Mamkootathil as State president-designate.

The first information report (FIR) identified the complainant as the State secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI).

The FIR stated that hitherto unidentified suspects had used a mobile phone application, CR-Card, to electronically generate phoney digital ECI cards to fake voter identity in the YC online polls. The charges in the FIR include online identity theft, use of fabricated digital signature, forgery and fraudulent use of a bogus document as a bona fide one.

The Kerala Police have announced a special team led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, P. Nidhin Raj, to investigate the case. Circle Inspector A.R. Ajith Kumar is the investigating officer. The special police team comprises cyber-forensic experts.

Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kaul has also called for a report from the police. He has also sought an explanation from the YC leadership. Mr. Kaul had termed the accusation grave and, if true, said the suspected voter ID fraud would entail criminal prosecution.

The case has political implications for the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). For one, it has rendered the Youth Congress vulnerable to accusations of electoral manipulation, phoney inner-party democracy, and online fraud and forgery.