The Kerala High Court, at a special sitting on Sunday, will hear the petitions filed by two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates, whose nomination papers for the April 6 Assembly elections were rejected by Returning Officers after scrutiny.
The candidates from Thalassery and Guruvayur constituencies had moved the court, challenging the decision.
The case will be heard at 2 pm by Justice N Nagaresh, High Court sources said.
BJP's Kannur district president N Haridas was the nominee in Thalassery in Kannur district, while in Guruvayur in Thrissur district, Nivedita, the party's Mahila Morcha state president, had been fielded.
Besides these two, the nomination of the party ally AIADMK's candidate RM Dhanalakshmi was rejected at Devikulam in Idukki district.
The rejection of the nominations has come as a huge setback to the BJP.
Haridas's nomination in Thalassery was rejected because it did not carry the signature of the BJP national President. The nomination of a dummy candidate for Haridas was also not accepted, Mathrubhumi News reported. Haridas is the Kannur district president of the BJP.
In the last state Assembly elections, the BJP's candidate in Thalassery, VK Sajeevan, got 22,125 votes. However, they were still in third place. The CPI(M) candidate AN Shamseer had won the seat after defeating AP Abdullakutty who was then with the Congress. Interestingly, Abdullakutty is now the national Vice President of the BJP.
When Haridas's nomination was rejected, the CPI(M) alleged that there is an understanding between the UDF and the BJP to cross-vote and defeat the Left party's candidate.
It comes close on the heels of veteran BJP leader and the lone MLA of the party from the state, O Rajagopal's revelation that such 'political adjustments' between the Congress, the BJP and the Muslim League have happened in the past.
Dhanalakshmi and her dummy candidate Ponpandy had their nominations in Devikulam rejected for not filing the required details. Niveditha, state president of Mahila Morcha, got her’s rejected, for not having the party's state president's name.
(With PTI input)