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Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 24 (IANS) Ahead of the Kerala local body elections going to polls in two phases on December 9 and 11, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) has already won unopposed in 14 wards in Kannur district.
The victory comes after a series of cancellation of nomination papers, withdrawal of names and allegations of forged signatures and coercion, leaving LDF candidates with no rivals in several wards.
Monday was the last day to withdraw nominations.
In Anthoor Municipality and Kannapuram Gram Panchayat alone, LDF candidates have been elected unopposed in 11 wards.
Five candidates claimed victory in Anthoor after the nomination papers of United Democratic Front (UDF) candidates in Kodallur and Thali wards were rejected during scrutiny.
The officials cited forged signatures of the proposers, who themselves confirmed that the signatures were not authentic. Kannapuram Panchayat saw six unopposed victories for the LDF, as nomination papers of one UDF candidate in Ward 1 and one BJP candidate in Ward 8 were rejected on the grounds of illegal proposer signatures.
This resulted in LDF’s Usha Mohanan and TE Mohanan being declared winners from their respective wards without any contest.
In Ward 5 (Anchampedika) of Anthoor, UDF candidate K. Livia withdrew her nomination, claiming that she had been kidnapped.
The Congress alleged that the CPI-M intimidated them into withdrawing their nominations, while the CPI-M refuted the allegation, saying that many UDF nominations were canceled due to faulty documents and misleading proposer details.
Similar results were seen in several other wards, including Wards 13, 18, and 26, either through rejected papers or withdrawal, effectively ending the competition for the LDF.
In some wards, such as Morza and Podikundu, the UDF did not field any candidate.
The Congress has accused the CPI-M of “crushing democracy” by using threats and pressure tactics to secure an unopposed victory.
Kannur DCC president Martin George said the CPI-M had “imposed dictatorship by intimidating supporters of rival candidates.”
However, the CPI-M says it has only pointed out legal anomalies in the nomination documents.
As Kannur heads towards elections, the early, unopposed victory for the CPI-M has set the stage for a politically charged election season.
–IANS
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