Dramatic moments filled the office of the returning officer of the Piravom byelection for a while during the scrutiny of nomination papers on Thursday.
The returning officer E.R. Shobhana rejected the papers of independent candidate Anoop Jacob, a namesake of UDF candidate Anoop Jacob, for giving false information both in the nomination paper and the accompanying affidavit. He had given the name of his father as Jacob while the SSLC book and the voter's list revealed that the actual name was Chacko.
United Democratic Front (UDF) workers brought this anomaly to the notice of the election authorities, who then examined the documents and rejected the nomination. The agent of the candidate and others disputed this decision and entered in to a heated argument with the election officials. LDF activists, however, did not intervene.
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The decision prevailed, raising cheers in the UDF camp as it spared their candidate from the prospect of losing valuable votes to a namesake. In what is seen as a closely fought battle where every vote may prove crucial, this was indeed good news for the ruling front.