Kasargod: In a surprise turn out,  BSP candidate from Manjeswaram Constituency K Sundara has withdrawn his nomination for the April 6 Assembly election here on Monday and joined the BJP.

Sundara told the media that he will work for party Kerala Unit President K Surendran's victory, who is contesting from two seats in the state. There have been rumours since Saturday that Sundara is being threatened by the BJP to withdraw his nomination. However, he appeared before Journalists on Monday and announced his decision to withdraw his nomination and joining the BJP.

The similarity between the names of the duo is considered to have helped Sundara garner 467 votes in the constituency as an independent candidate during the 2016 Assembly polls in which Surendran had lost to IUML nominee P B Abdul Razaq by just 89 votes.

Withdrawing his candidature, Sundara told reporters on Monday he was withdrawing his nomination and would work tirelessly for ensuring Surendran's victory.

There were rumours since Saturday that Sundara was being threatened by the BJP for withdrawing his nomination. While Abdul Razaq secured 56,870 votes, Surendran bagged as much as 56,781 votes in the previous polls.

Surendran had filed a case against the IUML candidate alleging that bogus votes were polled in favour of Abdul Razaq. However, following the death of Razaq on October 20, 2018, Surendran withdrew his case in February 2019. IUML candidate M C Kamarudheen won the by-election held in mid-2019.

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