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Journalism of Courage
In a major setback for the BJP in Kerala, Assembly poll nominations of NDA candidates in three constituencies were rejected for faulty submissions.
In the Thalassery Assembly seat, the form of BJP candidate and the party’s district president N Haridas was rejected in final scrutiny. Form A, which is to be submitted with the nomination (a political party sponsoring a candidate), did not have the mandatory signature of party state president. In Guruvayur constituency, BJP candidate Nivedida Subramaniam’s nomination was rejected on the same grounds. Nivedida is the state president of the Mahila Morcha.
In Devikulam constituency, the nomination of AIADMK candidate R Dhanalakshmi was rejected due to an incomplete form.
In Guruvayur and Devikulam constituencies, the NDA did not have dummy candidates. However, in Devikulam, BJP decided to support Congress rebel S Ganesh.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah was slated to address a convention in Thalassery on March 25. Although the seat is presently held by the CPI (M), the BJP has a significant presence in the region. In the last Assembly elections, BJP had bagged 16 per cent of the polled votes.
BJP state president K Surendran said the nominations were rejected due to the pressure from CPI (M). “We will fight it legally and approach the court. NDA will have candidates in these three constituencies,” he said.
The rejection of nominations made new ground for both CPI (M) and Congress to mutually trade charges of an electoral understanding with the Sangh Parivar.
Congress state president Mullappally Ramachandran said the rejection of nominations shows the secret understanding CPI (M) has with BJP. “To retain power, CPI (M) has no qualms in joining hands with communal forces. BJP has fielded weak candidates in several constituencies where prominent CPI (M) leaders are in the fray.”
CPI (M) Kannur district secretary M V Jayarajan however, alleged that the deal was between Congress and BJP. “The faulty nominations and subsequent rejection exposed the deal between Congress and BJP. Why didn’t the form of the BJP candidate in Thalassery have the signature of the party state president? It is mysterious,” he said.BJP state president K Surendran said the nominations were rejected due to the pressure from CPI (M). “We will fight it legally.”
