Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], March 24 : The Returning Officer of Kerala's Nemom constituency has accepted the nomination of BJP State President and National Democratic Alliance candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar for the April 9 Legislative Assembly polls in the State, his counsel said on Tuesday.
This development comes after the United Democratic Front (UDF) and Congress, earlier today, filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India alleging that the BJP leader had failed to reveal all his assets in his affidavit. The UDF had requested the Election Commission to reject Chandrasekhar's nomination on this ground of discrepancy.
It was alleged that Chandrasekhar had not disclosed the details of a 49,000 square feet bungalow at Koramangala in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Chandrasekhar's legal counsel has alleged that the opposition was spreading false allegations and propaganda via social media and traditional media to discredit the former Union Minister and raise irrelevant issues.
Legal In-charge of BJP, advocate Sanket Gupta told ANI today, "The nomination papers have been submitted and were found to be correct and complete in all aspects. Form 2B was correctly filled, and Form 26 was accepted with all information being 100 per cent accurate. All allegations filed against the candidate were found to be completely false."
"The nomination paper and affidavit have been accepted, and the opposition is now avoiding the contest. This is seen as a political move, particularly targeting Rajiv Chandrasekhar, due to the growing mandate for BJP in Kerala and the development progress under Prime Minister Modi. The false propaganda and allegations will not succeed, and Chandrasekhar is confident of contesting and winning the election," the advocate said.
"They are playing the fake tactics and they will always fail," he added.
Responding to the EC decision, the UDF candidate of Nemom, K S Sabarinathan said that the UDF and Congress will take a decision and they would move court accepting the nomination papers.
State education minister V Sivankutty who is the current Nemom MLA has said that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has demanded a proper investigation by the Election Commission and strict legal action.
"We will challenge the decision of the Returning Officer by filing complaints before the Chief Electoral Officer of Kerala and the national Election Commission, and we will also move the court," the CPI (M) leader Sivankutty said.
Addressing reporters, Sabarinathan said,"Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is a millionaire, he has a right to be a millionaire and right to contest elections also. But he has purposefully, wilfully suppressed information. Block number 408 Koramangala Third Block, a property that has almost market value of Rs 200 crore, a property for which he himself almost four days back paid a property tax of close to Rs 5 lakh rupees, has not mentioned this property in his affidavit. So that is clearly wilful suppression of facts."
The UDF candidate said, "Unfortunately, the lawyers of Rajeev Chandrasekhar claimed that it is a mistake on their part. So the fact that 200 crore property has not been mentioned is supposedly seen as a mistake on their part. But unfortunately, the RO (Returning Officer), the observer, doesn't have the legal wherewithal in this quasi-judicial system to disqualify based on this ground."
Sabarinathan, further claimed that it is only the UDF and the Congress, which has pointed out the matter and that no complaints were raised by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) over Chandrasekhar's nomination.
CPI (M) leader Sivankutty said the nomination affidavit submitted by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, "has concealed significant information, which is a serious challenge to democracy."
"Documents have emerged showing that a property in Koramangala, Bengaluru--House No. 48 in the third block--is owned by him. However, this asset has not been disclosed in his affidavit. The property tax for this house continues to be paid in his name, and records show that he paid more than Rs 5 lakh as tax just three days before filing the affidavit," the CPI (M) leader said.
"Even during the previous Lok Sabha election, the same address was provided, yet he did not declare it as his personal asset. Presenting assets differently in each election misleads voters. Under Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, this is a punishable offence," the Kerala minister said.
"In this election, crores of rupees are being spent by Rajeev Chandrasekhar in the constituency. Money is being distributed to both BJP workers and others. He is attempting to influence democracy through money power rather than engaging in a fair political contest," he alleged.
The BJP Kerala President Chandrasekhar, however, termed the allegation against him as baseless.
He took to social media platform X today to post, "When it comes to spreading lies and besmirching the reputation of a strong leader, Congress and CPM are not two, but one."
He further said, the "attacks and misinformation" against him have increased as the work towards a corruption-free 'Vikasit Keralam' continues with exposing the "exploitative politics of Congress and CPM".
Speaking to ANI on Monday, Chandrasekhar said the Congress was creating "imaginary lies out of thin air" with their allegations that the BJP is in partnership with the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
"Then they will take out and recycle old allegations against me. They tried this during the Lok Sabha election. They raised questions about my income tax. They raised questions about my house."
He termed the Congress as a "incorrigibly stupid party that only relies on lies and innuendo instead of putting forth a good vision for the people of Kerala".
"I can only advise them that bring on whatever you can, bring on your best against me. You have tried this for the last 15 years against me, from 2010. I have dealt with each one of your attacks on me decisively, and I can assure you that the more you throw stuff at me, the more determined I will be to defeat you...Everything I have done in my life, I have done openly and transparently," Chandrasekhar said.
Chandrasekhar is contesting from the Nemom constituency against the UDF candidate Sabarinathan and the LDF candidate Sivankutty.
The BJP had won its first-ever MLA seat in Kerala from the Nemom constituency in 2016 with the victory of O Rajagopal. However, in the next elections in 2021, BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan lost the seat to CPI (M)'s V Sivankutty, who is currently a minister in the ruling Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Party (LDF) government. Congress candidate K Muraleedharan came in third position in that contest.
While Sivankutty and Chandrasekhar both filed their nomination papers on Saturday, March 21, Sabrinathan, a former MLA and the son of late veteran Congress leader and former Assembly Speaker G Karthikeyan, had filed his nomination on March 23.
Counting of votes polled for the 140-seat Kerala Assembly is scheduled to be held on May 4.