Allegations of voters' list manipulation: Kerala Minister V Sivankutty urges for repoll in Thrissur Lok Sabha segment

Thrissur (Kerala): Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty on Tuesday urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to carry out a re-election in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency, in the wake of reports of widespread voters' list manipulation.

The BJP had gained a landslide victory in this constituency in the 2024 general election.

Actor-turned- BJP leader Suresh Gopi, now serving as Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Tourism, won the Thrissur seat by a significant margin of over 74,000 votes, defeating CPI's V S Sunil Kumar and Congress candidate K Muraleedharan in a closely fought three-cornered contest.

While talking to reporters here, senior CPI(M) leader Sivankutty said there have been allegations of widespread manipulation of voters' lists in the constituency before and after the Lok Sabha polls.

He claimed that even those who oppose Gopi within the BJP are saying that there was a possibility that 30,000 to 60,000 votes had been added to the electoral roll.

It has now come to light that eight to 15 votes were included in several apartments in the district, the minister said, quoting media reports.

"Actually, what the Election Commission should do is to conduct a re-election in Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency. A genuine and justifiable voters' list should be prepared for the same," Sivankutty said.

Vehemently criticising Suresh Gopi's continuing silence over the matter, the Left leader said he is keeping mum as he could not give a truthful reply on the matter.

"Gopi is scared to face the media and people. "That means he had won the election by manipulating the voters' list and spending lakhs of rupees," he alleged.

The minister also asked Gopi to resign as Thrissur MP, taking responsibility for the alleged malpractices.

"He should resign and contest a fresh election if interested," Sivankutty added.

The minister's statements came a day after senior CPI leader V S Sunil Kumar intensified his allegations of voter list manipulation against the BJP, linking it to their landmark victory in the central Kerala constituency.

Kumar said he would approach the court with evidence to prove the alleged manipulation carried out by the saffron party in the voters' list to ensure the victory of Gopi from the Thrissur segment. The BJP is yet to respond to the allegations.