Oath-taking in name of gods; HC issues notice to 20 BJP councilors in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala High Court has issued notices to 20 councilors who took oath in the name of gods following their victory in the local body elections. The notices were issued to 20 BJP councilors in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. The action was taken on the plea filed by CPM parliamentary party leader and councilor S P Deepak.

The CPM leader filed a plea seeking to invalidate the oath-taking in the name of many gods and martyrs. The court, while accepting the plea, asked how it was possible to mention the names of many gods in the oath-taking instead of ‘in the name of God’.

Deepak had pointed the violation of rules in which BJP councilors took oath in the name of gods just before the voting, which had led to a dispute. However, collector Anu Kumari responded that this should have been raised before the oath-taking. This was received with applause by the BJP members. The collector had directed to sign the forms after taking the oath and attend the meeting, and that they have become members and could approach the court if they had any further complaints. The BJP councilors took the oath in the names of Lord Ayyappa, Kavilamma, Attukalamma, Bharatamba, Sreepadmanabhan, Gurudevan, Balidanikal, etc.