Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 24 (IANS) Even before polling for the Kerala local body elections, scheduled in two phases on December 9 and 11th, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) has already secured unopposed victories in 14 wards in Kannur district.

The wins come following a series of nomination paper cancellations, withdrawals, and allegations of forged signatures and coercion, leaving LDF candidates without any rivals in several wards.

Monday was the last day for withdrawal of nominations.

In Anthoor Municipality and Kannapuram Grama Panchayat alone, LDF candidates have been elected unopposed in 11 wards.

In Anthoor, five candidates claimed victory after the nomination papers of United Democratic Front (UDF) nominees in Kodalloor and Thali wards were rejected during scrutiny.

Officials cited forged signatures from proposers, who themselves confirmed the signatures were not authentic. Kannapuram Panchayat witnessed six unopposed wins for LDF, after the nomination papers of a UDF candidate in Ward 1 and a BJP candidate in Ward 8 were rejected on grounds of invalid proposer signatures.

This resulted in LDF’s Usha Mohanan and T.E. Mohanan being declared winners from their respective wards without contest.

In Ward 5 (Anchampeedika) of Anthoor, UDF candidate K. Livia withdrew her nomination, claiming she had been abducted.

The Congress alleged that the CPI (M) intimidated her into withdrawing, while the CPI (M) refuted the charge, stating that multiple UDF nominations were scrapped due to faulty documentation and misleading proposer details.

Several other wards, including Wards 13, 18, and 26, saw similar outcomes, either through rejected papers or withdrawals, effectively eliminating competition for the LDF.

In some wards, such as Morazha and Podikkundu, the UDF had not fielded any candidates at all.

The Congress has accused the CPI (M) of “butchering democracy” by using threats and pressure tactics to engineer uncontested victories.

Kannur DCC President Martin George said the CPI (M) had “implemented dictatorship by intimidating supporters of rival candidates.”

The CPI (M), however, maintains that it merely pointed out legal discrepancies in nomination documents.

As Kannur heads to the polls, the early, uncontested victories for the CPI(M) have set the stage for a politically charged election season.

–IANS

sg/dan