It must be said that whoever is responsible for the outcome of the union chairman election held in Thrissur Kerala Varma College has committed an unforgivable mistake. In fear of losing the post of chairman held by SFI for 41 years, there was a violation of election rules and etiquette after the polls.

KSU candidate Sreekuttan won by a single vote in the election which was held with great fanfare, but after fierce disputes, a recount was held. In the meantime, the electricity went off several times. Allegations have been raised that the ruling union was deliberately disrupting the power supply to rig the recount. Anyway, when the recounting was finally completed at midnight, it was announced that SFI candidate Anirudhan had won by eleven votes. The KSU side alleges that the SFI candidate emerged victorious by manipulations under the cover of darkness. They alleged that the college management was also involved in this.

In the college union election, victory and unexpected defeat like this is common and no one gives much importance to it. However, the undesirable trends that took place in the Kerala Varma College Union Chairman Election are against public conscience. It is difficult to accept the misbehaviour of the opposition party, that took away the Chairman title from Sreekuttan, who won by one vote in the first count. This is not because Sreekuttan is blind. In a democratic system, there is only victory and defeat in elections. It is only polite to accept the victory of the opposition candidate, even if it is only by one vote. It is undemocratic to interfere in the counting of votes by using one's influence and creating a situation for the loser to win instead.

For those who are vocal about democracy to not respond to an injustice like this, is tantamount to turning a blind eye. Honesty and integrity are essential in college politics. When there are things contrary to it happening it is the party leadership that should intervene and take appropriate action. The college authorities also have a big responsibility in this matter. It is their responsibility to ensure that any election held in the college is as per the rules. Counting of votes extending into the night and several power outages happening in between has cast doubt on the counting of votes. These are situations that should have been avoided.

As the recounting has become a big controversy, preparations are underway to leave the matter for the consideration of the court. In that case, the result can be suspended pending the decision of the court. Such a measure would help to prevent the possibility of conflict on the campus. It is uncertain whether there is any way to re-run the chairmanship election without any outside interference. This is up to the college authorities to decide. The allegation that the election victory of a visually impaired child was rigged by the influence of the administration should be resolved by those who did it themselves.