The Kerala High Court has cancelled the results of the Assembly election 2021 at Devikulam constituency, disqualifying CPM MLA A Raja. The High Court observed that Raja was not eligible to contest the reserved seat, as he does not belong to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community.
The court’s decision came after hearing a petition filed by UDF candidate D Kumar, who accused Raja of producing a fake caste certificate to contest the election. While the court dismissed Kumar’s request to declare him the winner, it disqualified Raja from the seat.
Raja had won the Assembly polls in 2021 from Devikulam constituency with a majority of 7,848 votes. However, the court found that he is from a converted Christian community and therefore, ineligible to contest from the reserved seat.
The disqualification of Raja has reduced the strength of CPM members in the assembly from 99 to 98. CPM and A Raja may file an appeal against the High Court’s judgment.
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