LDF petitions against Congress, RSP

Kollam: As the RSP and CPM complete final laps of their election campaign, they hurl complaints and allegations at each other in this constituency.  In the latest, the LDF filed a petition against AICC general secretary and former chief minister Oo-mmen Chandy, RSP central committee member Shibu Baby John and Kollam DCC president Bindu Krishna accusing them of violating election code of conduct for 'cash for vote' allegation.

Meanwhile, the district collector who is the electoral officer has intensified vehicle checking for slush money transport to the district.

Mr Chandy had earlier alleged that the LDF was distributing cash in Kollam through a Kozhikode-based event management company and that a local legislator was trying to buy some 10,000 votes of cashew workers.

They alleged that the firm had deployed its employees in three batches of 70 each to distribute the money.  UDF candidate N.K. Prem-achandran also said the LDF had planned ‘cash for vote’ campaign by identifying over 3,000 families.

The CPM, in turn, raised an allegation of a truck between the Congress and BJP to trade votes and the RSP had appointed shadow committees to observe Congress workers.

Mr Premachandran's ri-val K.N. Balagopal claimed that a faction of Congress workers were abstaining from campaigning to express their dissent in Mr Premachandran’s connection with the BJP. The shadow committee was to have an eye on them, he said.

The LDF also attacked UDF that the same private agency is managing the Facebook pages of BJP candidate Alphons Kannanth-anam in Ernakulam.

CPM leader M.A. Baby said the same agency managing the social media postings of the UDF and BJP candidates is an evidence of the unholy nexus.