Court annuls five-time Congress MP’s election

KOCHI - The Kerala High Court Monday annulled the election of five-time Congress Lok Sabha member Kodikunnil Suresh, holding that he was ineligible to contest from the reserved constituency of Mavelikara in Alappuzha district.

Justice Sasidharan Nambiar said that Suresh is not qualified to be a candidate in the Scheduled Caste category and his nomination should not have been accepted.

The petition was filed by R.S. Anil of the Communist Party of India, whom Suresh defeated in 2009 by a margin of more than 40,000 votes, and two others.

Suresh had previously won four times (1989, 1991, 1996 and 1999) Adoor reserved constituency.

The petitioners had informed the court that Suresh was born as a Christian and later converted.

Speaking to reporters, former legislator and ex-Lok Sabha member R. Balakrishnan Pillai of Kerala Congress (B) expressed surprise at the verdict.

“I had gone with Suresh to file his nomination and it was me who argued with the district collector that his nomination should be accepted. He was elected under the same clause on four times and two times when he lost the elections from Adoor. Yes, he has the option of filing a petition in the Supreme Court,” said Pillai.

Meanwhile, Anil told reporters he had all the documents to prove that Suresh is not eligible to contest as a reserved category candidate.

“It was only now that we could get all the documents pertaining to his caste by applying through the Right to Information Act. With this verdict, we feel that justice has been delivered to the people,” said Anil.

Meanwhile, Sources close to Suresh said that he will approach the apex court.