Nilambur Assembly bypoll: Congress leaders cry foul over ‘targeted’ vehicle checks as campaign intensifies

Congress MP Shafi Parambil accuses election officials of targeting party leaders. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

With less than four days for the Nilambur Assembly byelection, the campaign is becoming murkier, with Congress MP Shafi Parambil and Palakkad legislator Rahul Mankootathil accusing election officials of targeting them by asking them to pull over their vehicles at Colony Plot near Nilambur on Friday night (June 13, 2025.)

The young Congress leaders have compared the incident of their vehicles being checked to the midnight raids on the hotel rooms of Congress leaders during the Palakkad by-poll last November.

However, Election Commission officials dismissed the allegations of the Congress leaders, stating that vehicle checking is a routine procedure during polls. In fact, checks were carried out on the vehicles of IUML MP Abdul Wahab and CPI(M) MPs K. Radhakrishnan and P.K. Biju by the Static Surveillance Team at various entry points to Nilambur. These checks have been video-recorded.

In a press release, district Collector and district Election Officer V.R. Vinod clarified that as part of the Model Code of Conduct implementation, 10 static surveillance teams, nine flying squads, three anti-defamation squads, two video surveillance teams and other systems are working. These are mandatory measures in accordance with the rules and regulations issued by the Election Commission of India, and he urged the people to cooperate with the officials.

Earlier, the Congress leaders said they had been insulted by the officials, who had shone a torch into their vehicles, asked them to get out, and checked their suitcases.

However, CPI(M) leaders, including A. Vijayaraghavan and Minister for Public Works Department P.A. Mohamed Riyas, said the Congress leaders were dramatising the incident during the campaign instead of fighting the electoral battle politically. LDF convener T.P. Ramakrishnan said it was unbecoming of elected representatives to disrespect the authority of the Election Commission and question it. “They should cooperate with the procedures,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi will begin his three-day campaign in the constituency on Saturday morning (June 14, 2025). AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who will visit various places in Wayanad on Saturday, will also campaign in Nilambur, a part of Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, on Sunday (June 15, 2025).

The Nilambur bypoll on 19 June has become the cynosure of Kerala’s political scenario with the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the CPI(M)-led LDF marshalling all their resources. The CPI(M) has nominated M. Swaraj, Congress has fielded Aryadan Shoukath and the BJP Mohan George. Also in the fray is P.V. Anvar, who resigned his legislative membership, which necessitated the byelection in the segment. He had won as an Independent with the support of the LDF in the 2021 Assembly polls. The counting of votes will take place on 23 June.