Thrissur, Sep 16 (IANS) The Kerala Police have now decided not to register a case against Union Minister Suresh Gopi in connection with allegations of voter list manipulation raised by Congress leader and former Thrissur MP T.N. Prathapan.
Actor-politician Gopi won from the Thrissur constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, paving the way for the BJP to open its account in the Lower House of Parliament from Kerala.
He won with a margin of over 70,000 votes, and since that day, allegations have been coming thick and fast that there was widespread manipulation in the voter list.
Prathapan, who was the Thrissur MP from 2019-2024, decided not to contest, and the Congress party fielded the sitting MP from Badagara — K. Muraleedharan.
But Gopi, who had finished third in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, had a stellar win and pushed the Congress candidate to third place, with former State Agriculture Minister and senior CPI leader V.S. Sunil Kumar coming second.
After Gopi’s win, Prathapan lodged a complaint alleging that he and his brother had forged documents to illegally register their votes in Thrissur. The complaint accused the Union Minister of deliberately submitting fabricated records to gain an electoral advantage.
However, after a preliminary probe, the police concluded that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the charges. According to official sources, the complainant failed to furnish the necessary supporting documents to prove the alleged forgery. Based on this finding, the police informed Prathapan that a case could not be filed at this stage.
City Police Commissioner clarified that the decision was drawn from the interim inquiry report, which found no material evidence to proceed further.
“The absence of credible documents prevents us from moving ahead with a case,” the Commissioner noted.
At the same time, the police did not entirely rule out the possibility of reopening the matter.
They stated that if additional documents are received from the District Administration or the Election Commission, the issue will be re-examined.
“Any further evidence provided by competent authorities will be duly considered, and the case can be revisited if necessary,” the statement added.
–IANS
sg/dpb
