The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday alleged that the Congress party secured victory in the Palampur Municipal Corporation elections by including thousands of “illegal” voters in the electoral rolls. BJP senior spokesperson Trilok Kapoor demanded a high-level inquiry into the voter registration process, claiming that ward delimitation was conducted without adequate public consultation.
Allegations of Illegal Voter Enrollment
Addressing a press conference in Palampur, Kapoor stated that ward delimitation for the municipal corporation was carried out without sufficient public consultation. He alleged that thousands of migrant labourers from states including Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh were enrolled as voters in violation of electoral norms.
Kapoor claimed that approximately 250 to 300 such votes were added in each municipal ward, bringing the total number of “illegal” votes to nearly 3,000. He further alleged that while applications submitted by local residents for inclusion in the electoral rolls were ignored, migrant workers were registered as voters. The BJP leader said the party would seek a high-level investigation into the alleged irregularities to prevent recurrence in future elections and would also approach the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
Impact on Election Results
Referring to the municipal poll results, Kapoor said BJP candidates lost four wards by margins of 49, 56, 114, and 125 votes, respectively. He claimed that the party trailed the Congress by an overall margin of around 1,100 votes across the 14 municipal wards and argued that the alleged irregularities had influenced the outcome of the elections.
Kapoor also asserted that the BJP performed strongly in the recently concluded Panchayati Raj elections. He claimed that Congress candidates forfeited their security deposits in two Zila Parishad constituencies and that BJP-supported candidates secured a majority of positions, from ward panchs to Block Samiti members.
BJP Claims Strong Rural and Urban Support
Congratulating the newly elected BJP-backed leadership of the Palampur Block Samiti, Kapoor welcomed the election of Usha Devi as Chairperson and Bindu as Vice-Chairperson. He thanked the elected members for supporting the BJP-backed candidates despite the Congress being in power in the state.
The BJP spokesperson further claimed that the party enjoys strong support in both rural and urban areas of Palampur and expressed confidence about its prospects in future elections. He also referred to the proposed Special Investigation Report (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that it would remove ineligible names from the voter list.
