ALAPPUZH: Election Commission officials recorded on Thursday a statement from senior CPM functionary and former Kerala minister G Sudhakaran after a video surfaced showing him allegedly claiming postal ballots were opened and altered during the 1989 Alappuzha Lok Sabha polls. Later, he denied making any claims of ballot tampering.
Sudhakaran allegedly made the controversial remarks at an NGO union state conference on Wednesday. In the video, he is seen saying that sealed postal ballots were unsealed, verified, and “corrected” by party workers. “We will unseal them, verify, and correct them. Even if a case is filed against me for saying this, I don’t mind,” he says in the clip.
He is also heard saying that during the 1989 elections, whenCPM’sKVDevadas contested from Alappuzha, postal ballots were examined at the party’s district committee office. “It was found that 15% voted for the opposing candidate. Patching up what’s broken isn’t difficult,” Sudhakaran says in the video.
In 1989, Congress’s Vakkom Purushothaman won Alappuzha seat by a margin of 25,123 votes. No allegations of electoral malpractice were raised at the time. Kerala’s chief electoral officer Rathan U Kelkar said EC was taking Sudhakaran’s statement seriously.
He stressed that tampering with postal ballots constitutes a grave violation under sections 136 and 128 of Representation of People Act, 1951, as well as under provisions of Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, and relevant provisions of IPC and BNS.
Kelkar directed Alappuzha’s district collector to initiate legal proceedings by registering an FIR and conducting a detailed investigation. Following the tehsildar’s submission, the collector instructed police to launch a formal probe into the matter.
Police have sought legal advice from DG of prosecution on filing the FIR, citing difficulty in securing evidence from an election held 36 years ago. A team led by Ambalappuzha tehsildar K Anwar visited Sudhakaran’s home in Paravur and recorded his statement Thursday. Anwar later submitted a detailed report to the collector, who also serves as district electoral officer.
Sudhakaran, however, expressed concerns about confidentiality, claiming postal ballots lacked the secrecy maintained in polling booths. He alleged that some organisational office-bearers collected ballots, undermining voter privacy.
Sudhakaran allegedly made the controversial remarks at an NGO union state conference on Wednesday. In the video, he is seen saying that sealed postal ballots were unsealed, verified, and “corrected” by party workers. “We will unseal them, verify, and correct them. Even if a case is filed against me for saying this, I don’t mind,” he says in the clip.
He is also heard saying that during the 1989 elections, whenCPM’sKVDevadas contested from Alappuzha, postal ballots were examined at the party’s district committee office. “It was found that 15% voted for the opposing candidate. Patching up what’s broken isn’t difficult,” Sudhakaran says in the video.
In 1989, Congress’s Vakkom Purushothaman won Alappuzha seat by a margin of 25,123 votes. No allegations of electoral malpractice were raised at the time. Kerala’s chief electoral officer Rathan U Kelkar said EC was taking Sudhakaran’s statement seriously.
He stressed that tampering with postal ballots constitutes a grave violation under sections 136 and 128 of Representation of People Act, 1951, as well as under provisions of Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, and relevant provisions of IPC and BNS.
Kelkar directed Alappuzha’s district collector to initiate legal proceedings by registering an FIR and conducting a detailed investigation. Following the tehsildar’s submission, the collector instructed police to launch a formal probe into the matter.
Police have sought legal advice from DG of prosecution on filing the FIR, citing difficulty in securing evidence from an election held 36 years ago. A team led by Ambalappuzha tehsildar K Anwar visited Sudhakaran’s home in Paravur and recorded his statement Thursday. Anwar later submitted a detailed report to the collector, who also serves as district electoral officer.
Sudhakaran, however, expressed concerns about confidentiality, claiming postal ballots lacked the secrecy maintained in polling booths. He alleged that some organisational office-bearers collected ballots, undermining voter privacy.
