New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 23 (IANS) The Election Commission Friday removed Kannur District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan and appointed two observers following complaints by the Congress party of irregularities in the Nov 7 by-poll process.
The commission, however, rejected the Congress's demand for a new voters' list in the politically volatile Kannur assembly constituency.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has criticised the poll panel's decision to change the district collector.
"We are appointing two observers. The two observers and the joint CEO have been told to camp there, so that each complaint coming in the press should be looked into and a report submitted to the election commission," said Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla in New Delhi.
Chawla said the commission has decided to remove the district collector and got a panel of three Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officers from the Kerala government for appointing a new collector at Kannur.
"We have got a panel. We are in the process of selecting a new district election officer, district magistrate. Yes, we are changing the existing official," he told reporters.
Balakrishnan had come under attack from the Congress which alleged that he did not take an impartial stand when it came to preparing the voters lists.
Rejecting the Congress's demand for another voters list, Chawla said: "The voters list is sealed. Cannot change it. One of the things that we must prevent is that there must not be any fraud."
According to the office of the state revenue minister, the three names suggested by Chief Secretary Neela Gangadharan include Ishita Roy, Sanjay Kaul and P.B. Salim, an official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
Congress leader and Kannur MP K. Sudhakaran maintained that Balakrishnan "did not do a clean job" when it came to preparation of the voters lists.
Reports indicate that the commission had asked the state government to include two specific names, but these have not been included.
"The commission is free to appoint anyone it thinks is fit for the job and it need not go by the list submitted by the state government," said Sudhakaran.
The CPI-M reacted in anger to the poll panel's move.
"The Election Commission is acting on the behest of the Congress party," said CPI-M Kerala state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, who is in the national capital to attend the party's central committee meeting which started Friday.
"The commission has crossed all limits by giving such directions. It is anti-democratic. It should not be reduced to a puppet at the hands of the Congress," Vijayan told reporters here.
The Congress on Tuesday asked Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla to remove all officials, including the district collector, to ensure a free and fair by-election Nov 7.
Winning the Kannur seat has become an issue of prestige for both the ruling Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
The Congress has fielded A.P. Abdulla Kutty, who till early this year was a two-time Lok Sabha member of the CPI-M, while the Marxist party has fielded a heavy weight candidate in M.V. Jayarajan, who had won from the nearby Edakadu constituency in 1996 and 2001.
Kutty was booted out of the CPI-M ahead of the May general elections for violating party discipline.
The only time the ruling LDF has won the Kannur seat was way back in 1977.