The Kerala High Court on Thursday dismissed an election petition filed by former CPI(M) legislator M. Swaraj in 2021 demanding the disqualification of six-time Congress legislator K. Babu and declaring him as the winner.
Babu won the Thripunithura constituency in the 2021 Assembly elections by defeating the then-sitting legislator Swaraj by 992 votes. Soon after the result was declared Swaraj approached the High Court and pointed out that Babu indulged in corrupt practices which materially affected the result of the election by appealing to the Hindu voters.
In his complaint, Swaraj had said that Babu allegedly distributed slips to Hindu voters which had the picture of Lord Ayyappa with an inscription that said “Your vote is for Ayyappa”.
But on Thursday the High Court dismissed his petition, and reacting to it Babu said, “First the CPI(M) said I won as I purchased votes from the BJP and later they filed a petition stating that I violated election rules by distributing a notice with the picture of Lord Ayyappa, which was false as we never did such a thing,” said Babu.
Babu was the State Excise Minister in the Oommen Chandy government (2011-16).
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He represented Thripunithura from 1991 and lost for the first time in the 2016 Assembly polls to Swaraj, but he regained the seat in the 2021 Assembly polls and now the Court has cleared his election too.
The CPI-M leadership has gone into a huddle and in all likelihood, Swaraj will approach the apex court against this verdict. (IANS)
