Election Commission complaint filed against Speaker AN Shamseer for alleged Code violation

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A complaint has been filed with the Election Commission against Assembly Speaker A.N. Shamseer by Shibu Baby John, the UDF candidate for Chavara. The complaint alleges that the Speaker violated the Model Code of Conduct by conducting a roadshow for LDF candidate Dr. Sujith Vijayan Pillai. Filed with the Chief Electoral Officer, the petition argues that the Speaker’s conduct warrants a bar on his further participation in the campaign.

Meanwhile, an intense contest is brewing in Chavara, a constituency that has historically shifted between being an RSP stronghold and a Left bastion. Since its formation in 1977, the seat was dominated by the veteran leader Baby John, who held it until 1996. While Shibu Baby John reclaimed the seat for the UDF in 2001, the Left Front regained it in 2006 through N.K. Premachandran, leading to years of fierce electoral battles between the two.

A major political shift occurred in 2016 when N. Vijayan Pillai left the RSP to capture the constituency as an LDF-backed independent. Following his unexpected demise, the Left Front retained the seat in the 2021 elections through his son, Dr. Sujith Vijayan Pillai, who defeated Shibu Baby John by a narrow margin of only 1,096 votes. This history sets the stage for the current high-stakes struggle for the constituency.