KANNUR: The United Democratic Front (UDF) district committee has accused the State Election Commission (SEC) and a section of `pro-CPI(M)' officials of being `partial and wrongful' in the ward delimitation and preparation of voters list for the coming local body elections in the district.

The UDF here would stage a dharna in front of the Collectorate here on August 29 to express its protest in this regard, UDF leaders announced at a press conference here on Thursday. They said that all norms were thrown to winds in the delimitation of wards in three-tier panchayats and municipalities. The hearings conducted by the SEC following complaints on the `unscientific' delimitation of wards in the district were both a farce and improper, they said. The SEC had taken a biased stand ignoring the reports given by the District Administration on the complaints, they added.

District Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph and Indian Union Muslim League district president V. K. Abdul Khader Moulavi were among those addressed the press conference.

While ward delimitation of district panchayats and some block panchayats and municipalities had been made without publishing the proposals, documents were forged to make it appear that the proposals were published, they said. In many places, the SEC had dissected wards unscientifically apparently to favour the CPI(M), they said.

The new Karivellur division of the District Panchayat, for example, includes areas within a 70-km stretch from the district's western boundary to that in the east bordering Karnataka, they said. The Udayagiri division also starts from the areas bordering Karnatakat to those close to the Payyannur Municipality, they said. The coastal areas such as Mattul, Madayi and Ramanthali were also unscientifically severed.

The UDF leaders said that only one of the five-member delimitation commission had participated in the hearing on the complaints. But the order issued as the final one carried the signatures of all the five members, they said.

The final draft of the voters list had not yet been published or given to political parties. In the voters list, many genuine voters had been excluded and many non-genuine ones included, they alleged saying that this job had been entrusted to CPI(M) workers in many places. The dharna was being organised to raise the demand that a conducive atmosphere be created for holding the election in a free and fair manner by rectifying such serious lapses, they said. They also asked the CPI(M) leadership to come for an open debate on the delimitation of wards. The CPI(M) should specifically say if it had complaints about the division of any wards, they said.

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