THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State Congress president K Sudhakaran has approached the Chief Election Commissioner seeking a by-election in the Devikulam assembly constituency. In a letter to the CEC, Sudhakaran urged him to implement the High Court verdict against CPM’s Devikulam MLA A Raja as he could not get a favourable order from the Supreme Court within 10 days as stipulated by the HC.
Sudhakaran recalled that the Kerala High Court had disqualified Raja. D Kumar, the UDF candidate from Devikulam, had approached the High Court demanding the cancellation of the election of Raja. Raja was given 10 days to file an appeal. Sudhakaran maintained that Raja was unsuccessful in getting a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court within the time frame.
“Hence, as per the Representation of the People Act the High Court order has come into effect with full vigour and force. So Raja has ceased to be a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. The ECI should therefore hold a by-election in Devikulam,” wrote Sudhakaran.
In his petition, D Kumar had maintained that Raja is a Christian and that he does not belong to the Scheduled Caste. Devikulam Assembly constituency has been reserved for SC candidates. Kumar had alleged that Raja belongs to the Other Eligible Community (OEC) category and submitted a fake certificate stating that he belongs to the Paraya caste. This led the Kerala High Court to cancel Raja’s election.