Nomination of two BJP and one AIADMK candidate declared invalid in Kerala

The nomination papers of two BJP candidates, N Haridas from Thalassery in Kannur district and Nividetha from Guruvayoor constituency, were declared invalid during scrutiny at designated centres today, sparking a war of words between the CPIM and Congress, the main two contenders in the state. Both the parties have accused the other of secretly allying with the right-wing party and claimed that the rejection was part of it. Meanwhile, the BJP has clarified that it will take legal recourse over the rejection of the nominations.

The rejection comes as a huge blow to the BJP as N Haridas was also the BJP Kannur district president, and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah was scheduled to campaign at Thalassery. Meanwhile, in the case of Nividetha, her nomination papers were declared invalid after the State BJP president K Surendran's signature was found to be missing. While the BJP had secured 22,125 votes from Kannur district in the 2016 Assembly elections, it had secured 25,490 votes in Guruvayoor.

Additionally, the nomination papers of a candidate fielded by the AIADMK, an ally of the BJP and part of the NDA, RM Dhanalakshmy from Devikulam in Idukki district, was found invalid.

While the Kannur district secretary of CPIM-M MV Jayarajan alleged that this clearly shows the tacit understanding between the Congress and the BJP, State Congress president Mullapally Ramachandran alleged a deal between the CPIM and BJP.