Kasaragod: High drama played out at the Kasaragod Collectorate when Congress MP and UDF candidate Rajmohan Unnithan and LDF candidate M V Balakrishnan arrived to submit their nomination papers on Wednesday, April 3.

Unnithan staged a sit-in protest in front of the office of the Collector K Inbasekar – the Returning Officer of Kasaragod constituency – for one hour from 10 am to 11 am, after the officer allowed Balakrishnan to submit the nomination papers first, though Unnithan arrived before the LDF candidate.

A miffed Unnithan then submitted his nomination papers with Specified Assistant Returning Officer P Shaju, who is a deputy collector. Balakrishnan filed his nomination papers before the Collector.

Unnithan said he was advised by an astrologer to submit the nomination papers before noon on Wednesday. "Nomination papers are accepted at 11 am and their verification takes around 40 minutes. So I arrived at the Collector's office at 9 am to get the first token," he said.

The tokens for filing nomination papers are issued by the Help Desk in front of the Collector's office at 10 am. "When I arrived, there was no one before me or after me. I stood there for one hour without drinking water or having food. At 10 am, when the help desk opened, the officials told me that the first token was given to LDF candidate Balakrishnan," Unnithan said.

The Congress leader refused to accept the second token and sat in front of the Collector's office in protest. Manjeshwar MLA A K M Ashraf and Kasaragod MLA N A Nellikkunnu joined Unnithan. "If the Collector wanted to play politics, he should not be the Returning Officer. He should have given the first token to the person standing in the front at 10 am. Else he should say the ruling party's candidate would be given the first token," Unnithan said.

Accused of being biased, Collector Inbasekar released the timings of the LDF candidate's proposer's arrival and Unnithan's arrival after checking the CCTV footage Wednesday evening.

He said CPM candidate Balakrishnan was given the first token because his proposer and Indian National League (INL) leader Aziz Kadappuram arrived at the helpdesk at 7.06 am, and Unnithan was given the second token because he arrived at 8.55 am.

Unnithan was livid with Inbasekar's explanation. "When the Collector's office opens at 10 am, what was Aziz Kadappuram doing there at 7 am? And where did he go after waving at the CCTV camera? If the Collector, who is the Returning Officer, checks only the CCTV footage, I would have gone there at midnight," he said.

Unnithan said he stood in the queue for one hour but CPM candidate Balakrishnan bought the token in black. "The Returning Officer entrusted with implementing the code of conduct has violated it," he said.

Unnithan has filed a complaint against Collector Inbasekar with Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kaul.