CPI leader and Kerala Food Minister C Divakaran, seeking re-election from Karunagappally Assembly segment, on Tuesday landed in trouble with police registering a case against him for allegedly slapping a voter.
Divakaran, however, denied the charge saying that it was a "cooked-up story".
In his complaint, one Sudhakaran alleged that the minister slapped him while canvassing votes at Karunagappally Railway Station after he told him that he would not vote for LDF as he was a UDF supporter.
After the incident, Sudhakaran lodged a complaint with the Karunagappally Police. A case was registered with permission of the Local Magistrate Court.
Police said the case was registered under Section 323 of IPC for voluntarily causing hurt to a person.
Reacting to the incident, Opposition Leader Oommen Chandy said Divakaran should apologise to the people and withdraw from the contest. "What the people of Kerala need is public servants and not those who beat up voters and journalists," he told reporters in Wayanad.
KPCC spokesman M M Hassan asked Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan to sack Divakaran from his Cabinet. People would give a fitting reply to LDF leaders for this show of arrogance, he said.
{{/usCountry}}KPCC spokesman M M Hassan asked Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan to sack Divakaran from his Cabinet. People would give a fitting reply to LDF leaders for this show of arrogance, he said.
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