Kerala: Cong MP unseated, to move court
The Kerala high court on Monday nullified the election of Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh from Mavelikkara saying that he was born as a Christian and was not entitled to contest from the constituency reserved for Scheduled Castes of the Hindu community.
While dealing with the petition filed by his rival candidate, Mr A.S. Anil Kumar of the CPI, the court said that records proved that Mr Suresh belonged to the Christian cheramar community and not the Hindu pulaya cheramar community as he claimed.
Mr Suresh, a five-time MP, had won from Mavelikkara with a majority of more than 48,000 votes in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
Justice M. Sasidharan Nambiar of the high court also criticised the returning officer of Mavelikkara for accepting the Congress leader’s nomination without proper scrutiny though there were complaints regarding his caste status from rival parties.
The court also found that the two caste certificates presented by Mr Suresh were contradictory and ordered that the nullification of his election be communicated to the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Election Commission.
After perusal of records and testimonies, the court came to the conclusion that Mr Suresh’s father was born in a schedule caste community but had converted to Christianity along with his family. The judge did not accept the certificates produced by the MP to prove that he had later reconverted to Hinduism. The high court also dismissed Mr Suresh’s contention that his invitation to a meeting of the Kerala Pulayar Mahasabha was evidence that he belonged to the community.
Meanwhile, Mr Suresh blamed a caucus within the Congress for the case against him and said they had joined forces with opposition parties to destroy his career. “They can’t stomach the rise of a dalit politician,” he said.
Post new comment