'Didn't open postal ballot'; CPM leader G Sudhakaran does a volte-face

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former minister and senior CPM leader G Sudhakaran did a volte-face after his earlier remark about tampering with postal ballots in elections triggered a massive controversy.

“The media blew up the issue and have not yet published the complete statement of what I said. I have not opened the postal ballots nor tampered with them. I told the issue to bring awareness to people. I indeed exaggerated a bit while talking about it. Media will edit and publish what they want and will never do justice to the trade.” Said G 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. I 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.