Thiruvananthapuram, March 24 Kerala CEO Rathan U Kelkar said on Tuesday that they have received a legal opinion regarding the allegations made by BJP candidate B Gopalakrishnan, who reportedly made a remark about "Hindu MLA," and will soon submit a report on the matter to the ECI.
He told reporters here that further actions will be taken in accordance with the guidance of the Commission.
The CEO said they received the legal opinion from the standing counsel on Monday.
However, the official was reluctant to comment further on the possible actions to be taken against the candidate over the controversial remarks.
"Based on the legal opinion, we will send a report to the ECI seeking their guidance. Whatever action to be taken will depend on the guidance from the Commission," Kelkar said.
The controversy relates to a campaign video in which senior BJP leader and party candidate Gopalakrishnan allegedly claimed that the Guruvayur constituency had not elected a Hindu MLA for nearly five decades and accused both the Left and Congress-led fronts of not fielding candidates from the community.
The CPI(M) and the Congress vehemently criticised the remarks and lodged a complaint against him with the ECI.
Based on the intervention of the ECI, the Guruvayur police had registered a case against Gopalakrishnan under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Representation of the People Act.
However, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday defended Gopalakrishnan over his alleged controversial remarks, questioning how his statement could be termed as hate speech.
He had said that Gopalakrishnan had not spoken against anyone and was only referring to the need for a "believing MLA" in a constituency like Guruvayur in the context of the issues faced by devotees.
