Kerala CPM leader G Sudhakaran booked for remarks on postal ballot tampering

Senior CPI-M leader and former state PWD minister G Sudhakaran faces legal trouble following his revelation about tampering with postal ballots in favour of CPI-M’s Alappuzha candidate during the 1989 Lok Sabha polls.

The Alappuzha South police on Friday registered a case against the veteran CPI-M leader under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act, 1951, following directions from the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Kerala.

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The case against Sudhakaran has been registered under Sections 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Sections 135 (removal of ballot papers from polling station), 135A (offence of booth capturing), 136 (electoral offence), and 128 (maintenance of secrecy of voting) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

G Sudhakaran stirred a political controversy after revealing that postal ballots were tampered with in favour of his party during the 1989 Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a gathering of former NGO Union leaders in Alappuzha on Wednesday, G Sudhakaran had said that postal ballots cast in favour of the Opposition were altered to support CPI-M’s Alappuzha candidate K V Devadas. At the time, Sudhakaran was the secretary of the CPM election committee.

“NGO Union members must vote for the Left alone through postal voting. Few do it. When our party leader, KV Devadas, contested in Parliament from Alappuzha, we opened, scrutinised, and changed postal ballots in the district committee office. Fifteen percent of the votes had gone in favour of the rival candidate. Whether a case can be registered against me now or not is not important,” Sudhakaran said.

Following this, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Kerala, Rathan U Kelkar, on Thursday ordered a police investigation into CPI-M leader and former Minister G Sudhakaran’s statement that service organisations supporting his party had tampered with the postal ballots of the Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency in 1989.

The Chief Electoral Officer has directed the District Collector, Alappuzha, who is also the District Election Officer in Alappuzha, to register an FIR and take further steps. A team of officials led by Ambalappuzha Tehsildar K Anwar visited G Sudhakaran’s residence on Thursday afternoon and recorded his detailed statement regarding the alleged tampering with the postal ballots.

G Sudhakaran, after giving his statement, told the media on Thursday that he had told the officials everything he had to say. “I have not committed any murder. I explained all the details to the representatives. Let the Collector decide,” he said.

Responding to Sudhakaran’s statements, CPI-M Alappuzha district secretary R Nazar denied any tampering with postal ballots in any election. “No such activities have been carried out by CPM leaders or cadres. I am unaware of the circumstances under which Sudhakaran made such a statement,” Nazar said.

As his statement sparked political and legal controversy, Sudhakaran retracted it a day later. During a CPI event on Thursday evening at Kadakkarapilly near Cherthala, he said no incident of postal ballot tampering had occurred.

“I spoke with a bit of imagination to raise awareness among government employees about the importance of postal ballots. I have never engaged in or facilitated fake voting. Postal ballots were not tampered with. I was only giving a warning to union members who didn’t vote. I have conveyed this to the election officials who came to record my statement,” he said.

Despite the alleged rigging in favour of the CPI-M candidate, Devadas was defeated by Congress candidate Vakkam Purushothaman by around 18,000 votes in the 1989 general election.