Congress, CPI(M) accuse Suresh Gopi of submitting false affidavit; file police complaint

A group of senior Congress leaders led by former Lok Sabha MP T N Prathapan lodged a complaint with the city police commissioner demanding that a criminal case be registered against Gopi.

Thiruvananthapuram: With the allegation of illegal voters at Thrissur in Kerala gaining strength, a demand for a repolling to the Lok Sabha seat has come up from the CPI(M), while the Congress filed a police petition against Union minister of state for petroleum and Thrissur MP Suresh Gopi accusing him of indulging in malpractice for enrolling himself and his family members in the voters list.

Congress and CPI(M) camps have come out with specific allegations that scores of voters were included in the voters list of Thrissur illegally ahead of the last Lok Sabha polls in which the BJP scripted the maiden victory from Kerala.

It was also alleged that Suresh Gopi and his family members were enrolled in the voters' list of Thrissur by giving false declarations that they were residents of the constituency.

Congress gave a petition to the Thrissur city police commissioner seeking action against the Union minister for allegedly submitting false affidavit to get himself and his family members enrolled in the electoral roll of Thrissur, even as they were voters of Thiruvananthapuram. The union minister was also accused of indulging in a criminal conspiracy.

The police would be taking further actions on the petition after seeking legal opinion.

State general education minister and CPI(M) leader V Sivankutty said that since it came to light that there were a large number of illegal voters during the Lok Sabha polls at Thrissur the Election Commission should conduct a repolling.

As per reports, most of the suspected illegal voters were enrolled in addresses of flats. In two flats alone, over 100 illegal voters were allegedly included. Many of the illegal voters were found to be BJP-RSS local leaders and some of them told local media that they were ignorant of it.

There were also allegations that the names of some close relatives of Gopi were included in the Thrissur electoral roll even without removing them from the electoral roll of their previous constituency.

BJP camps are trying to put a defense that no complaints were raised against the electoral rolls when the drafts were issued. Moreover, it is the CPI(M) that was in power in Kerala when the electoral rolls were prepared and not the BJP, they point out.

Kerala chief electoral officer Rathan U Khelkar said that all complaints against the electoral rolls were addressed ahead of the elections itself. CPI leader V S Sunilkumar, who had lost the election to Gopi in the election, was also asked by the EC to give any complaint in the prescribed declaration if he wished to pursue the allegations of illegal voters.