The order also constitutes a major setback to the Election Commission which had announced that the election to the three RS seats from Kerala will be held after the constitution of the new legislative Assembly. The Commission’s counsel had argued that while the date of expiry of the current Assembly’s term may be a relevant factor for consideration, it cannot be the sole basis for determining the schedule of such elections which ultimately affect the functioning of the house where the vacancies belong, that is the Upper House.

The EC’s decision to defer the Rajya Sabha elections had evoked strong criticism from the CPI(M) and the LDF Government. The Commission had argued in its defence that the recommendation from the Union Law Ministry that the polls be put off cannot be ignored! The EC’s stand exposed itself to the charge that it had succumbed to the pressure exerted by the Central Government to defer the RS elections until after the results of the Kerala Assembly elections on May 2.

Expectedly, the ruling party circles have welcomed the High Court’s order. In a statement hailing the order, CPI(M) state acting secretary A Vijayaraghavan said the order has frustrated the conspiracy hatched by the BJP through the Union Law Ministry to delay the elections. If the elections had been delayed beyond May 2, the CPI(M) could have lost its strength to ensure the victory of two of its candidates. Now, the CPI(M) is set to name its candidates at the meeting of the CPI(M) State Secretariat scheduled to be held on April 16.

Now that the High Court order has come, the candidates can file nominations till April 20 once the notification is issued. While the scrutiny of the nominations will be held on April 21, the last date for withdrawal of nominations will be April 23.The election will be held on April 30. On the basis of its current strength in the Assembly, the CPI(M) is in a position to send two of its representatives to the Upper House.

Likewise, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is also in a position to ensure the victory of one candidate. In fact, the UDF had recommended the name of Abdul Wahab of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) as its nominee. It was against this backdrop that the move to postpone the elections had come.

In its order, the High Court has held that when the Commission itself has admitted it is duty-bound to conduct the election and complete the process at the earliest, it is only appropriate that it takes expeditious steps without further delay to complete the election before another electorate comes into existence on May 2.

The court’s order came on petitions filed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly Secretary and CPI(M) MLA S. Sarma challenging the Election Commission’s decision to keep in abeyance the proceedings for the elections. The Court also held that the Commission has to expedite the proceedings so that the representation to the Upper House from Kerala was always in full swing. It was also necessary, the Court order said, to avoid a situation where the nomination was made by the existing Assembly and voting by another Assembly.

This is the second setback suffered by the Election Commission in Kerala. The first setback came when the Kerala High Court removed the ban imposed by the EC to distribute rice to non-priority ration card holders in the State. The EC had stopped the rice distribution following a complaint by Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala, who had contended that the distribution of rice would amount to a violation of the model code of conduct, and would influence the voters to favour the ruling party. But when the HC removed the EC ban, the UDF and the BJP leaders ended up with egg on their faces, and antagonizing a large section of the poor people.

CPI(M) sources say the conspiracy hatched by the BJP through the Union Law Ministry proves, once again, that the Central Government is bent upon creating hurdles in the way of the CPI(M) in maintaining its strength in the Rajya Sabha. It was interpreted as a calculated political plan on the part of the BJP to harass the LDF Government by all manner of means.

The interrogation of Kerala Assembly Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan by the Customs in connection with the dollar smuggling case is also being construed as part of the game plan to tarnish the image of the LDF Government. The interrogation of the Speaker and inspection of his flat in the Kerala Capital came in the wake of the statement made by the accused in the gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh and Sarith P. S. They stated that the Speaker had invited them to his flat, where he gave them a bag containing money to hand over to the UAE consul general. Swapna had also stated that the Speaker had shared with her his plan to start a Middle East College in Sharjah. Confirming the interrogation, the Speaker’s office said the Customs had arrived at the Speaker’s flat after seeking his convenience. The Speaker had earlier stated that he was ready to explain all allegations against him. (IPA Service)