THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : IUML state president Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal has announced Supreme Court lawyer V K Haris Beeran as the party’s Rajya Sabha candidate. The decision was made at the IUML leadership meet in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.
Initially, national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty’s choice was state general secretary P M A Salam. But Kunhalikutty had to toe Thangal’s line after the leadership felt that, under the circumstances, a lawyer of Haris’ repute will keep the party in good stead when the Citizenship Amendment Act is taken up in Parliament and also when the case comes up again in the Supreme Court, a party source told TNIE.
Over the past one week, there has been hectic lobbying for and against the 47-year-old Haris who started his legal practice under senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Dushyant Dave. When Salam’s name came up for the candidature, the leadership maintained that he cannot be considered as he is already holding the post of IUML state general secretary.
This led the Muslim Youth League to propose the name of their state general secretary, P K Firos. At the same time, the youth outfit’s national general secretary V K Fyzal Babu also lobbied for the seat. But Sadiq Ali remained firm in his stand that Haris would be the ideal candidate. The leadership felt that Haris’ service was most warranted at this juncture, a top IUML leader told TNIE.
“After the initial hiccups, the IUML leadership concluded that there is no other candidate better than Haris. Apart from being a successful lawyer in the Supreme Court, representing the IUML in pertinent cases like CAA, Haris had been holding several key roles -- Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre Delhi unit president, All India Lawyers’ Forum convener and IUML constitution committee member, to name a few. His services are required for the party both in Delhi and Kerala,” the IUML leader said.
Until recently, Kunhalikutty’s decisions were accepted by the IUML state leadership without any bickering. But this time, Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal remained firm in his stand favouring Haris, and there was no other alternative before Kunhalikutty but to give in to the party supremo’s decision.
Belonging to Aluva, Haris is the son of V K Beeran, a former additional advocate general. Based in New Delhi for the past 26 years, Haris has been instrumental in setting up the IUML headquarters coming up in the national capital. A few of the prominent cases he argued in the Supreme Court relate to expatriates’ voting rights, hijab, love jihad (Hadiya case), Abdul Nasar Madani and journalist Siddique Kappan.
Haris said he would fulfil the responsibilities bestowed on him by the party. “I am grateful and indebted to IUML for providing me with the Rajya Sabha ticket. The Rajya Sabha election is happening at a crucial juncture and I hope to uphold the responsibility bestowed on me by IUML,” Haris said.
He will be filing his nomination before the Assembly speaker on Wednesday, accompanied by leaders of all major UDF allies.
Polls for 3 RS seats in Kerala on June 25
Elections for the three Rajya Sabha seats in Kerala will be held on June 25. Going by the strength in the assembly, LDF can elect two members and UDF one. The terms of the incumbent Rajya Sabha members -- CPM’s Elamaram Kareem, CPI’s Binoy Viswam and KC (M)’s Jose K Mani -- will conclude on July 1