Cong files police complaint against Suresh Gopi alleging electoral fraud

Thrissur: The Congress on Tuesday levelled fresh allegations against Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Tourism Suresh Gopi, accusing him of submitting a false declaration to secure his inclusion in the voters’ list for the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency during the 2024 general election. The party has also filed a police complaint against the actor-turned-politician.

A delegation of senior Congress leaders, led by former Lok Sabha MP T N Prathapan, submitted the complaint to the Thrissur City Police Commissioner, demanding the registration of a criminal case against Gopi. Prathapan alleged that the BJP leader had falsely declared to election authorities that he had resided continuously for six months in a house within the constituency, enabling him to add his name to the electoral roll.

According to Prathapan, the declaration was “completely false,” as Gopi did not reside at the said address for the claimed period. He alleged that Gopi, along with 11 family members, was added to the supplementary voters’ list issued after the final roll, on the basis of this false affidavit. “Therefore, his vote is fake and invalid. A criminal case should be registered against him. His vote should be cancelled,” he said.

Prathapan also claimed that the names of Gopi and his family members continue to appear in the voters’ list of the Shasthamangalam ward under the Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation for the upcoming local body elections. He accused the district administration of failing to address complaints of fake voters raised by the Congress before the 2024 general election.

“Suresh Gopi took an oath on the Constitution of India. He was a Rajya Sabha member before contesting this election, which he won by submitting a false affidavit. If his vote is declared invalid, he will lose his Lok Sabha membership,” Prathapan said, expressing hope that the police would act on the complaint.

Suresh Gopi secured a landslide victory in Thrissur in the 2024 general election, defeating CPI’s V S Sunil Kumar and Congress candidate K Muraleedharan by a margin of over 74,000 votes in a tight three-cornered race.

Earlier in the day, Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty urged the Election Commission of India to conduct a re-election in Thrissur, citing allegations of large-scale manipulation of the voters’ list before and after the polls. Accusing Gopi of maintaining “shameful silence” on the matter, Sivankutty said, “He is scared to face the media and the people. That means he won the election by manipulating the voters’ list and spending lakhs of rupees.” The minister called on Gopi to resign as MP, taking responsibility for the alleged malpractice.

With PTI inputs