Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kerala unit vice-president B Gopalakrishnan on Friday said that his party will relocate persons from other states in the constituencies it intends to win, reported PTI.

“In constituencies where we intend to win, we will bring people even from Jammu and Kashmir,” he was quoted as saying by the news agency. “We will settle them for a year and ensure they participate in the voting process. There is no doubt about it. We will do it again in the future.”

The comments came against the backdrop of the Congress alleging large-scale irregular enrolment of voters in the Thrissur constituency ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The party has also alleged that Union minister Suresh Gopi, who is the MP from Thrissur, had submitted a false declaration for him to be included in the voters’ list for the constituency.

The BJP had secured its first-ever Lok Sabha seat in Kerala with Gopi’s victory in Thrissur. The actor-turned-politician defeated VS Sunilkumar of the Communist Party of India by more than 74,600 votes.

The Congress has alleged that there was a “suspicious and abnormal surge” of 1,46,656 voters between the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party has claimed that the jump is inconsistent with demographic trends as Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode – districts with higher employment-driven migration – did not show similar patterns, reported Mathrubhumi.

On Friday, Gopalakrishnan rejected allegations that the Hindutva party had added voters by giving fake addresses in Thrissur, reported The Hindu.

“There may be one or two cases where allegations were raised that the owner was unaware of how outsiders were included in their address,” he said.

He also stated that no bogus voting took place in the constituency.

Following his statements, BJP’s state secretary MT Ramesh said that only the residents of Thrissur were registered to vote in the constituency.

“With any one of the six ID proofs recognised by the Election Commission, proof of six months’ residence, and neighbour verification, a person can vote anywhere in India,” Ramesh was quoted as saying by PTI. “This includes Kashmir.”

He further alleged: “Fake votes were added by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Congress, not the BJP.”

Responding to the Congress’ allegations, Gopi had on August 17 said that the Election Commission should respond to allegations of voter list manipulation in Thrissur, and not him.

“I am a minister, and I have fulfilled my duties,” he said. “Those who must reply will reply. If you have more questions, ask them – or wait until the matter comes before the Supreme Court.”

The allegations come after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on August 7 said that his party had spent six months examining the electoral rolls in Mahadevapura Assembly segment of the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency and found discrepancies in more than one lakh names.

He alleged that this was evidence of the Election Commission having colluded with the BJP.

The poll panel on August 13 dismissed Gandhi’s allegations as “false and misleading”.

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