Sudhakaran faces FIR for postal ballot comment

A case under various provisions of the Representation of People (RP) Act and the IPC was on Friday registered against CPI(M) veteran G Sudhakaran in connection with his recent remarks claiming that postal ballots were opened during the 1989 Alappuzha Lok Sabha election.

Sudhakaran, in a purported video aired on TV channels, can be heard making the controversial remarks during a gathering of former NGO Union leaders here on Wednesday.

It prompted the Election Commission to launch a probe into the matter and the CPI(M) veteran's statement was recorded on Thursday by EC officials.

Following that, Sudhakaran, at another event here on Thursday, claimed that what he had said earlier was not completely true and he had added something extra to it from his "imagination".

"Nothing like that ever happened. No ballot boxes were opened and no ballots were ever tampered with. I have never taken part in anything of that sort and I have never done any bogus voting.

"I have also not paid anyone to do bogus voting. What I said on that day was only meant as a small warning to those doing such activities and to let them know that we are aware of what they are doing," he had said.

Despite the claim, the police on Friday 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.

According to the FIR, the action was taken based on a report sent to the Alappuzha District Police Chief by the District Collector who is also the District Election Officer.

In the controversial video, Sudhakaran was heard saying that NGO union members should not cast their votes for rival candidates.

He said that it is not necessary for all NGO members to vote for the party, but those who submit sealed ballots should not assume that "we won't find out" whom they have voted for.

"We will unseal them, verify, and correct them. Even if a case is filed against me for saying this, I don't mind," he was quoted as saying in the video aired by news channels.

Sudhakaran had said that some NGO union members had cast their votes for opposition candidates.

"When KSTA leader K V Devadas contested for Parliament from Alappuzha, postal ballots were unsealed and examined at the district committee office. It was found that 15 per cent had voted for the opposing candidate. Patching up what's broken isn't difficult," he had said.

KSTA is a school teachers' organisation backed by the CPI(M).

It was not clear from the video whether the tampering of postal ballots--after they were unsealed--was carried out by him or his associates during the 1989 Lok Sabha election for the Alappuzha seat.

Sudhakaran said that Devadas had contested against Congress leader Vakkam Purushothaman in that election and lost by 18,000 votes.

However, the Election Commission documents say in the election, Purushothaman secured 3,75,763 votes, defeating CPI(M) candidate Devadas, who received 3,50,640 votes.

Purushothaman won by a margin of 25,123 votes, which accounted for 3.36 per cent of the total valid votes.

The CPI(M) Alappuzha district leadership had rejected Sudhakaran's claim, stating that nothing of the kind had happened and that the party had no role in it.