The Kerala Congress on Tuesday launched a legal battle against Union minister and Thrissur MP Suresh Gopi, accusing him of electoral fraud in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Senior Congress leader and former Thrissur MP T N Prathapan filed a complaint seeking a criminal investigation against the actor-politician on the charge of filing a false affidavit claiming more than six months’ domicile in the Lok Sabha constituency ahead of filing his nomination in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
In his complaint, Prathapan alleged that Suresh Gopi’s transfer of voter registration to Thrissur ahead of the last Lok Sabha elections was illegal and part of a criminal conspiracy. According to him, Gopi’s name was allegedly added to booth number 115 in the Thrissur constituency despite the Representation of the People Act allowing only permanent residents to vote in a given booth.
Prathapan said for decades, Suresh Gopi and his family have lived at house number 22/1788 in the Sasthamangalam division of the Thiruvananthapuram constituency. Their names still appear in the Sasthamangalam voter list even after Gopi’s appointment as Union Minister, which, he claims, confirms the fraudulent nature of the Thrissur registration.
“I produced attested records to prove that Mr. Gopi and his family did not meet the electoral criterion of six months’ residence in the Lok Sabha constituency. People of Thrissur know he had rented the house Bharath Heritage a month or two before the 2024 General Elections,” he said.
He accused authorities of ignoring a vast discrepancy between the draft and final voters’ lists, claiming 60,000 fake voters were added using empty flats, houses, and fictitious identity proofs. “When the Congress raised a complaint with the District Collector, he claimed helplessness,” Prathapan stated.
He also stated that he would file a complaint with the Central Election Commission seeking immediate action.
Meanwhile, Kerala general education minister V Sivankutty has demanded a re-election in Thrissur, citing widespread allegations of voter fraud both before and after the polls. He claimed that around 30,000 and 60,000 fake votes may have been added to the rolls.