Alappuzha: Former Kerala minister G Sudhakaran is facing serious legal trouble after his public claim that postal ballots were tampered with during the 1989 Lok Sabha elections. The Alappuzha South Police have registered a case against the veteran CPM leader invoking several provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, following a direction from the District Collector, who is also the District Election Officer. The action comes even as Sudhakaran retracted his statement amid mounting political and legal pressure.

On Thursday, the Ambalappuzha tahsildar recorded Sudhakaran’s statement at his residence. Based on video footage of his original speech, the police filed an FIR against him under sections 128 (maintenance of secrecy of voting), 135(removal of ballot papers from polling station), 135A(booth capturing) and 136(other offences and penalties) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and sections 465(punishment for forgery), 468(forgery for cheating) and 471(using forged document as genuine) of the IPC. The punishment for the offences under the Representation of the People Act range from a few months to a maximum of two years, while those under the IPC carry jail terms from two years to seven years. 

The original statement and retraction
Sudhakaran’s controversial comments were made during a public address on Wednesday. Referring to the 1989 Lok Sabha election in Alappuzha, he said:

“When postal ballots are cast, NGO union workers handle them separately. Not everyone does it, but a few do. Otherwise, don’t hand them over to us and send them directly. When KV Devadas was contesting, we opened the ballots at the DC office. It’s easy to open something that’s just pasted shut. About 15% of the votes were on the other side. After opening them, we verified and made necessary corrections. Even if a case is registered against me now for this, I have no issues with it.”

The 1989 election had recorded the highest voter turnout in Kerala's history at the time, with Alappuzha witnessing an 84.87% turnout. Congress candidate Vakkom Purushothaman defeated CPM’s KV Devadas by a margin of 25,123 votes.

However, Sudhakaran retracted his statement a day later. Speaking at a CPI event in Kadakkarappally, Cherthala, he claimed:

“No ballots were opened or checked at the party office. I was speaking generally and added a touch of imagination to it. No one has tampered with any ballots. I have never participated in such activities, nor have I ever cast a bogus vote.”