'I'm no murder convict, not afraid of consequences'; CPM leader G Sudhakaran about election rigging controversy

ALAPPUZHA: Former minister G Sudhakaran remained unwavering with his earlier statement of tampering with postal ballots during elections. Sudhakaran said he was unafraid of the consequences the revelation would bring to him and commented in a sardonic note that he had not committed any murder to be targeted in this manner.

“The Election Commission representatives came to inquire about the information. I told them what I know. The collector should take the final decision,” said Sudhakaran.

G Sudhakaran spoke about the parliamentary elections held 36 years ago in 1989. 'When K V Devadas, leader of CPM's service organisation KSTA, contested in Alappuzha, I was the secretary of the election committee. Me and others opened the postal ballots, verified and fixed them. 15 per cent of the votes of the members of the CPM service organisations were against Devadas. These were fixed.

The postal ballots given to us were verified and fixed. The votes of the service organisations often do not favour the party's candidate. When you get a postal ballot for an election, don't do it to anyone else. "It doesn't matter if the Election Commission files a case against me in this incident," was G Sudhakaran's revelation. Devadas contested against Vakkom Purushothaman in the 1989 parliamentary elections. Vakkom Purushothaman was the winner with a majority of over a quarter of a lakh votes.

With the revelation going viral, the Chief Electoral Officer directed the Alappuzha District Election Officer to take immediate action. Earlier, officials had visited G Sudhakaran's house in Alappuzha and recorded his statement.