The Hindu : Kerala News : Kurien elected to Rajya Sabha

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Friday, Jan 07, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Kurien elected to Rajya Sabha

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 6. The Congress leader, P. J. Kurien, was elected to the Rajya Sabha by defeating his LDF rival, C. Divakaran of the CPI, in the byelection held here today.

Mr. Kurien polled 95 votes, while Mr. Divakaran polled 37 votes out of the 132 that were cast, with four members each from the LDF and the UDF unable to vote either because they were indisposed or were pre-occupied with other pressing engagements. The UDF MLAs, Mercy Ravi, T. N. Pratapan, Prayar Gopalakrishnan and Kalathil Abdullah and the LDF MLAs, Girija Surendran, A. K. Balan, V. Chenthamarakshan, and V. K. Chandran did not vote. Mr. Kurien would represent the seat for till the expiry of its term on July 1, 2006. The

byelection was necessitated following the death of the CPI leader, V. V. Raghavan.

Political motives

Later speaking to media persons, Mr. Kurien attributed political motives at the Opposition parties' attempts to rake up the Suryanelli case. He said that he was ready for any kind of probe, but he could not understand the rationale of the Opposition demand coming as it does after four major inquiries during the Antony Government's rule in 1996 and the Nayanar Government's rule in 1996. He said he had been absolved by all these inquiries, conducted by senior police officials, who were reputed for the uprightness and credibility.

The only issue that remained was a private petition filed before a lower court. The court had issued summons to him, which had been challenged in the High Court. The High Court refused to interfere in the case, following which, Mr. Kurien said, he had moved the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had issued a stay in the case that is now in force. He said he had filed a case seeking damages for dragging in his name in the Suryanelli cases. "What more can I do? I am ready to face a fresh probe if that would help," Mr. Kurien observed. He said he had been elected twice since the advent of the case, that too with commendable majorities.

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