Kerala assembly elections: ‘Kaumile Kutti’ controversy escalates in Perambra

Kozhikode: A controversy over ‘Kaumile Kutti' (Kaum in Arabic means persons belonging to Islam) mike announcement from an LDF campaign vehicle in Perambra has intensified with UDF leaders accusing the Left of running a communal campaign against its candidate Fathima Thahliya. However, LDF candidate and convener T P Ramakrishnan dismissed the allegation as baseless and said the front would cooperate with any investigation into the incident.Ramakrishnan said clear instructions had been given to cadres not to target rival candidates. "Our campaign announcements focus on the govt's welfare and development initiatives. There is no communal campaign. Let police probe UDF's complaint," he said. But Thahiliya alleged that the campaign against her was carried out with the knowledge of Ramakrishnan.Meanwhile, IUML national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty claimed that LDF has repeated its mistake referring to the ‘kafir screenshot' controversy during the previous LS elections in Vadakara. "They have learnt nothing from that episode. Just as it contributed to Shafi Parambil's victory, this too will hurt LDF. The growing popularity of IUML's candidate has unsettled them, leading to such tactics," he said.Sources said election authorities are likely to seek an explanation from Ramakrishnan and examine whether the incident violated the model code of conduct. The vehicle used for this announcement had reportedly obtained prior permission.The row centres on an announcement claiming that IUML was conducting a covert campaign to win votes for Thahiliya with the slogan ‘Our votes for Kaumile Kutti'.The issue came to light after a video of the announcement, recorded by Avala native Salil at Madathil Mukku, went viral on social media. On Wednesday, UDF election committee chairman K Balanarayanan filed a complaint with the state election commission and KSU general secretary Arjun Kattayattu lodged a complaint with the DGP. They said LDF was resorting to communal campaign by raking up Thahiliya's religion.Earlier, Perambra had witnessed a row during previous LS polls when the ‘kafir screenshot' campaign against UDF candidate Shafi Parambil surfaced. The screenshot was later found to be fabricated and first posted in CPM-linked social media groups. Police investigations are still continuing in that case.