The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the State Election Commission to allow candidates of Kerala Congress (M)-Joseph group to contest elections as candidates fielded by the group under its symbol, Chenda.
Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque issued the order on a petition filed by group leader P.J. Joseph. According to him, the election commission had allowed the symbol of Chenda to contest as Kerala Congress Joseph group.
However, the SEC was trying to treat all candidates belonging to his group as Independent candidates. In fact, the Joseph group was part of the UDF coalition and if they were treated as Independent candidates, it would ultimately lead to disqualification of such elected candidates on the ground that Independent candidates had switched over to the coalition.
In view of these submission, the court ordered that candidates of the petitioner’s group shall be permitted to contest the elections as candidates of the Kerala Congress(M) P.J. Joseph group under the symbol.
