Malappuram: The Kerala High Court on Thursday upheld the election of UDF candidate Najeeb Kanthapuram from the Perinthalmanna assembly constituency in Malappuram. The petition, filed by KP Mohammed Musthafa, an independent candidate backed by the Left Democratic Front (LDF), had challenged the victory of Najeeb Kanthapuram in the assembly polls. Kanthapuram had secured his victory with a narrow margin of 38 votes.
A report by the sub-collector had revealed that a bundle of valid postal votes counted at Postal Ballot counting table no. 5 had gone missing. This discrepancy was discovered when officials arrived at the Perinthalmanna sub-treasury to collect the ballot box as per a High Court directive. The missing ballot box was later found in the office of the Cooperative Registrar in Malappuram.
Musthafa's challenge was primarily based on the claim that 348 postal ballots from absentee voters, including senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and those affected by COVID-19, were improperly rejected. He contended that the reasons for rejecting the postal ballots were not given to the counting agents. He also sought to be declared the elected representative from the constituency. Kanthapuram had won the election by 38 votes in the 2021 assembly elections.
