The Congress in Kerala has opened a legal battlefront against Union Minister and Thrissur MP Suresh Gopi, who is facing accusations of voter fraud in the 2024 General Elections, even as the chorus for his resignation and consequent re-election appears to grow louder. 

Former Thrissur MP T.N. Prathapan called on the Thrissur Police Commissioner on Tuesday (August 12, 2025) and filed a complaint seeking a criminal investigation against Mr. Gopi on the charge of filing a false affidavit claiming more than six months’ domicile in the Lok Sabha constituency ahead of filing his nomination in the 2024 General Elections. 

Speaking to reporters in Thrissur, Mr. Prathapan alleged that Mr. Gopi falsely testified to the Election Commission of India (ECI) that he and his family members, numbering 11, had completed the mandatory six-month minimum period of residency in Thrissur for inclusion in the voters’ list. 

“I produced attested records to prove that Mr. Gopi and his family did not meet the electoral criterion of six months’ residence in the Lok Sabha constituency. People of Thrissur know he had rented the house Bharath Heritage a month or two before the 2024 General Elections. It’s common knowledge that he had stayed at a friend’s residence,” Mr. Prathapan added. 

Mr. Prathapan said he would move the ECI and the Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala, against Mr. Gopi. He also alleged a vast discrepancy between the draft voters’ list published ahead of the General Elections in Thrissur and the final list. 

“Names not listed in the draft voters’ list appeared in large numbers in the final voters’ list. It is legally allowed to add or remove voters after publishing the draft list. However, in Thrissur, the discrepancy was enormous. When the Congress raised a complaint to the District Collector, who is also the returning officer, he claimed helplessness and stated the final voters’ list was inviolable”, Mr Prathapan said. 

He stated that he had provided the police with the electoral rolls, demonstrating that Mr. Gopi was registered as a voter in the Sasthamangalam division in Thiruvananthapuram, where he resided permanently. 

Mr. Prathapan alleged that an estimated 60,000 fake voters were added to the list using the addresses of hundreds of empty flats and houses in Guruvayur and Thrissur and providing fictitious identity proofs.

General Education Minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State committee member V. Sivankutty demanded Mr. Gopi’s resignation. He dared Mr. Gopi to “show the moral courage” to face his constituents to clear the air.