K. Babu, the United Democratic Front (UDF) MLA from Thripunithura, has urged the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and its candidate M. Swaraj, whom he defeated in the last Assembly election, to accept the High Court verdict on the election petition filed by the latter.
Mr. Swaraj had filed the petition alleging use of religious symbols by Mr. Babu to win over the electorate in the 2021 polls.
“Initially, when the election results were declared, the LDF tried to malign my victory by alleging that it was bought using BJP votes. Now that the court of law has also upheld the victory, the LDF and its candidate should at least accept the verdict and desist from needless litigation. For some reason, they could not accept the election results,” Mr. Babu said.
He added that in the seven elections that he fought, he was not as much as served even a memo as he always fully complied with election rules and the modal code of conduct. “We always believed in our innocence since we never printed the election slips bearing the picture of Lord Ayyappa as was alleged. It was fabricated, and a complaint was lodged with the police on the eve of the election and not with the election authorities,” Mr. Babu said.
Mr. Swaraj, on his part, dubbed the verdict “strange”, which he feared would weaken democracy and said that the possibility of going on appeal would be explored in consultation with the LDF.
He reminded that the election petition was a continuation of a flurry of petitions that the LDF had filed with the Election Commission over the alleged campaign violative of the Representation of the People Act following which the Commission had removed such campaign materials. The verdict will set a wrong precedent in campaigning validating invoking religious symbols to influence voters.
Mr. Swaraj said it was not about winning or losing the case, but it involved a more serious matter of violation of the Representation of the People Act.
