Kochi: A petition was filed in the High Court of Kerala requesting it to nullify the election of Minister R Bindu from the Irinjalakuda Assembly constituency.
Bindu’s rival candidate, United Democratic Front’s Thomas Unniyadan, moved the court against her saying she had misled the voters by prefixing the title ‘Professor’ to her name.
Unniyadan said Bindu identified herself as ‘Professor’ in election campaign materials, including posters and notices, despite her not being one. She was mentioned as Professor Bindu in the ballot also.
The Kerala Congress leader argued that she had cheated the people to win votes. Additionally, a smear campaign through pamphlets was unleashed against him in the constituency during the run-up to the April 6 Assembly election. This was done with her knowledge, he claimed.
Hence, he requested the court to nullify her election to the State Assembly. CPM’s Bindu, the Minister for Higher Education in the second Pinarayi Vijayan-led cabinet, had defeated her nearest rival Unniyadan by a margin of 5,494 votes.