Announcement row in Perambra constituency: Notices issued to LDF-UDF candidates

KOZHIKODE: The returning officer in Perambra assembly constituency has issued notices to the LDF and UDF candidates after a controversy erupted over an election announcement. UDF candidate IUML's Fathima Thahiliya has alleged that a pre-recorded announcement by LDF was spreading a false claim that the IUML is seeking votes by referring to Thahiliya as "Kaumile Kutti" (belonging to Islam).UDF had submitted a complaint against LDF regarding the same, with the video of the vehicle making the announcement. LDF too raised a counter complaint against Thahiliya, accusing her of using communal undertones to seek votes. The returning officer has issued notices to LDF candidate T P Ramakrishnan as well as Thahiliya. Ramakrishnan said that he has received the notice and an explanation would be provided."You can listen to the announcements from our vehicles, and it is about development and people's welfare. We are not talking about other matters. The complaint is that matters other than that are being said. Let that complaint be examined. There are systems prevailing in Kerala to do that," he said.Thahiliya, meanwhile, told media that she was yet to receive the notice and learnt from the media that such a notice has been issued.She said that there was a larger conspiracy involved since it was a pre-recorded audio that was played from an LDF campaign vehicle."Like the Kafir screenshot in Vadakara, there is no need to track down the origin of the audio since it is prima facie proved. It is pre-planned and intentional. Since we were able to make the people understand that, LDF has come up with a complaint against me as well to overcome it," Thahiliya said.She said that from the time she started campaigning, she had been facing cyberbullying and attempts to tarnish her image."Now, they have turned to a communal announcement. They are trying to create communal polarisation here. No matter what, I don't intend to stop speaking about the lack of development in Perambra constituency," Thahiliya said.Ramakrishnan, meanwhile, said that they have not done any such campaigning as alleged. "You can listen to the announcements and our speeches. There are lots of false campaigns against us. For that, social media and some media are being used. But we are not worried about that," he said.