Kerala opposition seeks removal of all officials in Kannur

Alleging irregularities during the poll process in Kerala's Kannur assembly constituency, the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) Tuesday asked the Election Commission to remove all officials including the district collector to ensure a free and fair election Nov 7.

The UDF delegation, led by Kannur MP K. Sudhakaran met Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla and requested him to post independent poll officials in the constituency.

"We have demanded that all the poll officials including district collector be removed and independent officers should be posted for ensuring free and fair polls," Sudhakaran told reporters after the meeting.

Sudhakaran also alleged anomalies in the voters' list.

"Thousands of voters have been transferred to Kannur from other areas and the names of thousands eligible voters have been deleted from the voters' list," he said.

The UDF delegation also comprising Congress MP P.J. Kurien and Muslim League MP E.T. Mohammed Basheer met Chawla on the same day Kannur District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan submitted a report to the state chief electoral officer on alleged violation of the model code of conduct by Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi during campaigning last week.

Balakrishnan has also filed a complaint against Sudhakaran for threatening a government official.

The Congress has fielded A.P. Abdulla Kutty, who till early this year was a two-time Lok Sabha member of the CPI-M, while the Marxist party has fielded a heavy weight candidate in M.V. Jayarajan, who had won from the nearby Edakadu constituency in 1996 and 2001.

Kutty was booted out of the party ahead of the May general elections for violating party discipline.

The only time the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) has won the Kannur seat was way back in 1977.

Wednesday is the last date for filing nominations.

Last updated on Oct 20^th, 2009 at 20:41 pm IST--IANS