A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been moved in the Kerala High Court seeking to issue directions to the Election Commission of India not to proceed with the byelections for Chavara and Kuttanad Assembly constituencies as the elected members will get hardly four months time to officiate as MLAs.
The petition was moved by Varghese Perayil, the State president of the Voters Association of Kerala. The commission had announced that the byelections would be held in November 2020.
COVID curbs
If election is held as announced, the government and the contestants will have to spend substantial amounts. It will be difficult for the voters and the officers on election duty to participate in the process because of the COVID-19 restrictions, he submitted.
Majority of the voters, the State government, the Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala, and most political parties were of the view that the byelection was unnecessary at this stage, he submitted.
