After reports came out about the police custody of a 40-year-old man, who the police said was a sympathiser of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), in connection with the uploading of a derogatory video against the Left front candidate Dr. Jo Joseph in the Thrikkakara byelection, the Congress and the IUML blamed the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] for playing out a drama out of fear of losing the bypoll.
Opposition Leader V. D. Satheesan alleged that the arrest “aided by the police” was a conspiracy hatched by the CPI(M) on the polling day. The arrested person had no links with the IUML as certified by the party leadership, he said.
P. M. A Salam, State general secretary of the IUML, rejected the police claim that the person arrested for uploading the fake video was affiliated to his party. “We had checked with the IUML local leadership and they have confirmed that this person had no affiliation with our party. The voters have the sense to realise that this was a drama scripted by the CPI(M) on the polling day,” he said.
However, E. P. Jayarajan, convener of the Left front, said the Congress stood exposed with the arrest of a worker of its ally in the fake video case. This development will impact the outcome of the election in Thrikkakara, he said.
Mr. Rajeeve and Mr. Swaraj demanded an apology from Mr. Satheesan for indulging in “cheap tactics” and sought the withdrawal of the UDF candidate Uma Thomas from the fray over the incident.
