Pathanamthitta: The BJP candidate from Pathanamthitta, K. Surendran, alleged that the communist government of Kerala used governmental mechanisms to influence the election result in favour of the CPI(M).
K. Surendran alleged serious charges of conspiracy in a press meet he conducted at Pathanamthitta.
Election fraud was done by the state government in postal voting by government officials. He alleged that the government used police personnel to commit fraud in postal votes and the CPI(M) had secured 450 votes in this manner.
He also accused that the Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, pressurized the Orthodox Church to publically announce its support to the communist candidate in Pathanamthitta, Veena George.
Surendran said that the Chief Minister went out of the way to help Veena George to win the election.
K. Surendran, who is the General Secretary of the BJP State unit, is considered the hero of Sabarimala. He had spent more than two weeks in custody after he was arrested while trying to enter the holy shrine. He has since been slapped with more than 250 criminal cases to break his spirit.
He was taken to different parts of the state to be presented in court and was ill treated by the police force controlled by Pinarayi Vijayan. However, Surendran, was able to submit his nomination and gave a tough fight for both the Communist and Congress candidate in Pathanamthitta.
The holy shrine of Sabarimala is situated in Pathanamthitta and this is why the Chief Minister has taken extra effort to help the CPI(M) candidate win from the constituency. The Chief Minister looks for a redemption of sorts by securing a communist win from the very constituency that is home to Sabarimala.
Pathanamthitta is a place where there is a huge population of minority votes. The communist candidate, Veena George, also hails from the minority community. She belongs to the strong Orthodox faction of the Christian community and the Chief Minister has made sure that the faction backs his candidate strongly.
