Congress MP’s win nullified

Jul 27, 2010 |

Correspondent

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Thiruvananthapuram, July 26: The Kerala High Court on Monday nullified the election of the Congress MP, Mr Kodikunnil Suresh, from Mavelikkara saying that he was born 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 HC 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.

The HC 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 caste certificates presented by Mr Suresh were contradictory and ordered that the nullification of his election be communicated to the Speaker and the Election Commission.

After perusal of records and testimonies, the HC came to the conclusion that Mr Suresh’s father was born an SC 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.

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