Nilambur: The Congress-led UDF has revived the "trolley bag fiasco" of Palakkad byelection after police stopped and searched the vehicle and luggage of Vadakara MP and Congress working president Shafi Parambil at a checkpoint in Vadapuram, on the edge of the Nilambur constituency.

Congress state president Sunny Joseph accused the LDF government of misusing police to intimidate UDF leaders and workers, claiming that only opposition vehicles and bags were being checked. Youth Congress state president, Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, and Muslim Youth League leader P K Firos were also travelling with Parambil. Police searched their bags too, but found nothing.

In a video of the incident, Parambil is seen consenting to the inspection and registering his displeasure. "We didn't suddenly sprout into MPs overnight," he says in the clip. Joseph described the stop as a politically motivated act. "It's not standard practice to pull over and search the luggage of elected representatives," he said. "This is a leftover tactic from the Palakkad bypoll, executed with the government's backing. Only UDF leaders are being targeted."

Election officials, however, rejected the comparison with Palakkad, where police had searched the hotel rooms of Congress leaders Shanimol Usman and AICC member Bindu Krishna without female officers present. That night raid, conducted amid allegations of cash being smuggled to influence voters, yielded no evidence.

Election Police Observer Arunangshu Giri said he would raise the UDF’s concerns with the Malappuram District Police Chief, who oversees election security. He added that police have set up three routine checkpoints on the Nilambur constituency’s periphery - at Vadapuram in Mampad panchayat, Mylappadam in Pothukkal panchayat, and Anamari in Vazhikkadavu, a key transit point to Ooty and Mysuru. All vehicles are being checked as part of the standard election protocol, he said.

The midnight raid in hotel rooms of Congress leaders during the Palakkad bypoll campaign had spiralled into a contentious issue. The CPM had to deal with an internal rift over raising allegations of transactions involving black money in the campaign against Congress. It was even cited that the controversy backfired and affected the party's chances in the election.