UDF candidate breaks down, says LDF notices vilifying him

Kottayam: Adding drama to the election campaign in Adoor, UDF candidate C V Santhakumar on Wednesday broke down in front of the media, alleging that LDF was distributing defamatory leaflets against him. After filing a complaint at the RDO office, Santhakumar told the media that LDF was attempting to defame and ruin him by spreading fake notices. The leaflet suggested that he was a suspect in a 2008 murder case in Konni, he alleged. He denied having any such case against him and broke down, asking why he was being targeted. He challenged that he would withdraw his candidacy if any criminal cases against him were proven.Santhakumar said he currently has no such case against him. He said he was not present at the 2008 incident, and his name was unjustly included. In 2018, the court acquitted him due to lack of evidence and because he was not a party to the case. He mentioned that he has since been elected as a public representative three times. Elections are democratic and people should decide the winners and losers, he said.He alleged that there was an attempt to eliminate him like the late Congress leader M G Kannan. According to a police report, currently, there is no case against Santhakumar. Police confirmed that court had acquitted him in the 2008 case.The notice issue began on Tuesday night when Santhakumar staged a sit-in protest in front of the RDO office, claiming no action was taken despite complaints to Adoor SHO and RDO. At 11:30pm, district collector S Prem Krishnan met him and UDF leaders, assuring them that action would be taken against those responsible for the illegal distribution of notices and the press that printed them, leading to UDF ending the protest.However, UDF workers reported that notices were being distributed even on Wednesday morning, leading them to detain two persons distributing notices in Parakode and hand them over to the police. LDF leaders, led by CPI district secretary Chittayam Gopakumar, staged a sit-in protest in front of Adoor police station, alleging that their workers were unjustly detained by police while distributing election slips for LDF's Adoor candidate Priji Kannan. Eventually, police registered a case against those distributing the notices and released them, ending the LDF protest.UDF alleged that defamatory notices were distributed in Kadambanad, Mannady, Peringanad and Kodumon areas.