Karayis win election

KANNUR: CPM leaders Karayi Rajan and Karayi Chandrashekharan have won from the Patyam division of the Kannur district panchayat and Chellakkara ward in the Thalassery municipality respectively. Rajan, CPI (M) district secretariat member, and Chandrashekharan, party Thalassery area committee member, are accused in the murder of Muhammad Fazal at Thalassery in October 2006. The case is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Though the CBI court barred them from leaving Ernakulam district, they were allowed to visit Kannur to file their nominations and to cast their votes. Their candidature was flayed by the UDF and the BJP.

Rajan won the Patyam division by a huge margin of 21,602 votes over his UDF rival. Though not officially announced, Rajan is likely to be the LDF’s candidate for the post of the district panchayat president. If he is elected president of the panchayat, the issue of the court’s bar on his entry in the district will be an obstacle to his functioning. Chandrashekharan was elected from the Chellakkara ward by a margin of 201 votes against his UDF rival.

The CPM district secretariat said that the people had elected Rajan and  Chandrashekharan against the attempts to disparage their reputation by portraying them as murderers.