THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency provided a rare political rallying point for the two major political fronts in the state, the debarment of CPM MLA A Raja from the Devikulam assembly constituency has ensured that ‘normalcy’ is returned.
A day after approaching the Election Commission seeking the holding of an immediate byelection in Devikulam, Congress state president K Sudhakaran on Saturday asked the state government to file a case against Raja under non-bailable sections for submitting fake documents. The Kerala High Court had on March 21 annulled Raja’s election from Devikulam, a reserved assembly constituency, observing that he is a Christian convert from the Scheduled Tribe community and he is ineligible to contest from the seat.
Sudhakaran said the CPM is equally complicit in Raja’s forgery. “The government helped Raja obtain the fake caste certificate. The court was convinced that Raja had corrected his family register. CPM is cheating the backward communities by supporting Raja who had overturned the reservation principles,” he said.
In response, the CPM said Sudhakaran’s statement reeks of double standards. State secretary M V Govindan termed the Congress chief’s statement anti-democratic and one that sanctifies the BJP-led central government’s excesses.
In a statement, Govindan asked whether Congress has a similar position on Wayanad. “All the opposition parties had criticised the Lok Sabha secretariat’s action of disqualifying Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad constituency. The Congress leadership is seeking to wreck the unity between opposition parties and strengthen the BJP,” he said.
Govindan also said Sudhakaran had requested the CPM not to field any candidate if a byelection was declared in Wayanad.“The CPM had not only criticised the disqualification of Rahul but also denounced the arrest of former Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia and the disqualification of Lakshadweep MP P P Mohammed Faizal,” Govindan said. Sudhakaran’s allegiance towards the RSS is well-known,” he added.
The CPM has also decided to raise the issues related to the disqualification of Raja. “The HC in its verdict never said Raja had submitted a fake caste certificate,” CPM central committee member T M Thomas Isaac said. “The court said Raja had no right in claiming SC rights. It said that as Raja’s forefathers, who had migrated from Tamil Nadu, could not acquire properties before 1950 he had no right for SC benefits. This will have ramifications in the plantation areas,” he added. Isaac also sought the position of the Congress and the UDF in the matter.
War of words