KOCHI, March 31 -- More than 170 fake names have been identified in the Lok Sabha electoral roll of a ward in Udumbanchola, a small town in Kerala's Idukki district. The State goes to the polls on April 26 and the disclosure has shocked all political parties barring the CPI (M). The 170 names identified in the electoral roll of Udumbanchola are those whose names figure in the electoral roll of Theni in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
MV Govindan, the CPI (M) State secretary, said there was nothing unusual in the duplication of names in electoral rolls. "The persons whose names figure in Udumbanchola roll are all plantation workers employed in rubber and tea estates in Idukki. They are all from Tamil Nadu's Theni district and there is nothing to w...