Altered postal ballots in 1989 poll: CPM veteran

ALAPPUZHA: Election Commission officials recorded Thursday a statement from senior CPM functionary and Kerala ex-minister G Sudhakaran after a video surfaced showing him allegedly claiming postal ballots were opened and altered during the 1989 Alappuzha Lok Sabha polls. Later, he denied making any claims of ballot tampering.

In the video, he is heard saying that during the poll — which Congress’s Vakkom Purushothaman won — postal ballots were examined at the party’s district committee office.

Kerala’s chief electoral officer Rathan U Kelkar said EC was taking Sudhakaran’s statement seriously. He directed Alappuzha’s district collector to initiate legal proceedings by registering an FIR and conducting a detailed investigation.

Police have sought legal advice from DG of prosecution on filing the FIR, citing difficulty in securing evidence from an election held 36 years ago.