A municipal councillor who took up a contract work of the municipality in violation of the rules and two grama panchayat members who skipped official meetings have been disqualified by the State Election Commission.
Nishakumari P., councillor of Ward no. 10 of Paravur municipality, Kollam; Shalini Madhu, member, Ward 1, Chembu grama panchayat in Kottayam; and Sulfikkar S., member, ward no. 12, Punnapra South grama panchayat; are the disqualified members, the commission said in a statement on Thursday.
Ms. Nishakumari had participated in the bids for printing the letterpads of the chairperson and councillors of the Paravur municipality, carried out the work and accepted payment for it. Her actions are in violation of Section 91 (1) (f) of the Kerala Municipality Act, State Election Commission chairman A. Shajahan said on Thursday. Elected municipal members are prohibited from accepting such work.
Mr. Sulfikkar and Ms. Shalini were disqualified for keeping away from the standing committee meetings of their respective panchayats for more than three months. Mr. Sulfikkar was also absent from the panchayat committee meetings for over three months. Such absences are in violation of Section 35 (1) (k) of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, the commission said.
The commission rejected the petitions filed by the members for getting their memberships restored.
