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The
court should not permit the participation of religious
organisations during election campaigns and it should
disqualify those candidates being backed up by such
groups. This is exactly what a petition has demanded in
the southern state of Kerala.
Last week, July 7, the Kerala High Court received a
petition urging it to act on religious groups
associating with political parties and candidates
standing for elections.
In the petition, the complainant S Ganapathi from
Thirumullavaram, Kollam, appealed to the court to make
it "illegal" when religious groups or leaders canvass or
support for parties, representatives.
Immediately following the petition, the court sent
notices to Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC), Nair
Service Society (NSS), Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana
Yogam (SNDP) and Jama-at-Islami.
Ganapathi in the petition maintains that religious
orgsanisations were vigorously campaigning and
supporting political parties during the recent Lok Sabha
elections. Therefore, he demanded the court should
disqualify those candidates who were being backed up by
such groups.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission responding to the
court's queries, agreed to the petition, but said it was
not authorised to take action on such cases. It
mentioned that action could be taken only through an
election petition.
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