A. Sampath, MP, has called for a government inquiry into the alleged discrepancies in the voters’ list for the election to the managing committee of the Indian Red Cross Society, Kerala branch. He alleged a conspiracy to conduct a bogus election by recruiting people with criminal background.
He was speaking to mediapersons at the Press Club in the city on Saturday. Mr. Sampath said that even though he had been a life member of the Indian Red Cross Society for more than two decades, his name and those of several others were missing from the voters’ list which was published on July 25 for the election scheduled for August 25. As per records, there were 24,290 members in the society in 2003. The names of award-winning blood donors and volunteers of programmes under the United Nations were missing from the list. They had been replaced by people who had no connection with the society, which had been formed under the Red Cross Society Act. “I received repeated complaints from some of the senior life members who said that their names had been struck off the list without their knowledge. I tried contacting the administrator, but there was no response. The Kerala branch is the only one that does not maintain a functional email address and fax number,” he said. “There is a good chance that there has been misappropriation of funds. For instance, the administration has not convened a general body meeting to scrutinise financial statements since 2010,” he said.
The MP said that if the authorities were not willing to verify the records and correct the voters’ list, he would take up the issue as non-adherence to an MP’s request and as a violation of protocol. He said he had forwarded the complaint to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Kerala Governor, and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. All arrangements have been made for the elections, returning officer P. Subair Kunju said here on Sunday. A Division Bench of the High Court had approved a voters list of 10,956 persons, he added.
