ALAPPUZHA: Taking serious note of former minister G Sudhakaran’s revelation about tampering of postal ballots in the favour of CPM’s Alappuzha candidate in the 1989 Lok Sabha polls, the State Election Commission (SEC) has directed district election officer and Alappuzha Collector Alex Varghese to register an FIR and take further steps.
On the SEC’s directive, Ambalappuzha tahsildar S Anvar visited Sudhakaran’s residence at Paravoor near Alappuzha on Thursday and recorded his statement.
The former minister’s comments during the state meet of the NGO Union on Wednesday triggered a storm with Opposition parties condemning his admission and calling for a thorough investigation into the matter. The CPM Alappuzha unit denied any tampering.
Addressing a gathering of former NGO Union leaders in Alappuzha as part of the meet, Sudhakaran had said that postal ballots cast in favour of the Opposition were altered to support CPM’s Alappuzha candidate K V Devadas. At the time, Sudhakaran was the secretary of the CPM election committee.
He said the ballots cast by members of service organisations were collected and brought to the CPM office. “Roughly 15% had voted for the rival candidate. We examined and modified the ballots,” Sudhakaran said, adding that he was not concerned about legal action from the Election Commission. In the election, Congress candidate Vakkom Purushothaman defeated Devadas by more than 25,000 votes.
In a statement on Thursday, Chief Election Officer Rathan Kelkar said the commission viewed the revelation as extremely serious. He also said it violated Sections 136 and 128 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
In his speech, Sudhakaran also said there was no obligation that all NGO Union members vote for the LDF. “The NGO Union is a non-political organisation. People affiliated with any party can be a part of it. However, during elections, one should openly declare whom they are voting for. Do not think that if you seal the postal ballot and hand it over, none will know your decision,” he said.
On Thursday, Sudhakaran said he had given his statement to the SEC representatives. “I have not committed any murder. I explained all the details to the representatives. Let the collector decide,” he said.
Reacting to Sudhakaran’s statements, CPM Alappuzha district secretary R Nazar said there was no tampering of postal ballots in any election. “There are no such activities (done) by the CPM leaders or cadre. I do not know under what circumstances Sudhakaran made such a statement,” Nazar said.
Sudhakaran backtracks, says he aimed at raising awareness
Following the backlash, Sudhakaran withdrew his statement on Thursday evening. During a public meeting 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 the 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.