Rahul Gandhi's election from Wayanad challenged in high court

The victory of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad and that of Hibi Eden from Ernakulam in the recent Lok Sabha elections was challenged before the Kerala High Court by Saritha S. Nair, an accused in the solar scam case. The election of other three UDF candidates was also challenged before the high court by various individuals.

Saritha had filed nominations in both Ernakulam and Wayanad. But her papers were rejected by the Returning Officer of both these constituencies on the ground that the Judicial First Class Magistrate (JFCM) court in Perumbavoor had convicted her in the solar scam case for three years and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000.

Saritha, who had levelled serious allegations against various Congress leaders in the state including Eden in connection with the case, and had accused Rahul Gandhi of having ignored her letters in this regard on multiple occasions, contested against the former party chief in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh.

In her petition, Saritha pointed out that her nomination paper was accepted by the Returning Officer of Amethi. She, therefore, demanded that the election of Rahul and Eden be declared null and void.

Meanwhile, N.K. Premachandran's victory from Kollam constituency was challenged by LDF candidate K.N. Balagopal who alleged that the former had invoked Sabarimala issue during the campaign.

A petition against Pathanamthitta MP Anto Antony's election was filed by one Anandagopan who accused the UDF candidate of having made religious appeals to voters. Election of Dean Kuriakose from Idukki, too, was challenged by Romio Sebastin, a voter in the constituency, who alleged that the MP had exceeded the limit of election expenditure prescribed by the Election Commission.