Frayed political tempers marked the fourth day of the LDF government’s public outreach programme, the Navakerala Sadas, in Kannur district on Tuesday.
An alleged DYFI attack on Youth Congress workers who staged a black flag protest against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s motorcade in Kannur on Monday appeared to have vitiated the State’s political atmosphere.
The fraught situation showed no sign of abating, with the Congress threatening to pit MLAs and MPs at the forefront of the street protests against Mr. Vijayan.
KPCC president K. Sudhakaran warned that Congress workers would impede Mr. Vijayan’s progress across the State and resist the CPI(M) ‘s “thuggery” on the street.
CPI(M) and Congress leaders portrayed the incident in starkly different terms.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said DYFI workers had saved a Congress worker from committing a “suicidal act” by attempting to throw himself in front of the bus ferrying the Cabinet. He lauded their effort to prevent such life-threatening daredevilry, further infuriating the Congress.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan termed the incident an act of wanton violence against YC and KSU activists who exercised their democratic right to protest peacefully.
Mr. Satheesan said the police abetted the violence at the behest of the CPI(M). He accused Mr. Vijayan of justifying the “attack” and lording over a “gangster State”.
The Congress has sought to cast Mr. Vijayan at the centre of its anti-government campaign. United Democratic Front (UDF) convener M. M. Hassan termed Mr. Vijayan a “cruel” Chief Minister who often forgot the storied legacy of his high office.
The CPI(M), however, pushed back. Party State secretary M.V. Govindan said the Congress had fomented violence to create a causality. He said the Congress’s sly intent to retard the momentum acquired by Navakerala Sadas was now out in the open.
Mr. Govindan termed the Congress protest a suicide attack to change the political narrative and to push the Cabinet’s outreach out of the spotlight. LDF convener E.P. Jayarajan termed the Congress’s black flag protest a “terrorist attack”.
The CPI(M) also found an ally in Thalassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany, who attended a breakfast meeting with Mr. Vijayan. He termed the Congress’s boycott unnecessary and said political parties should sink their differences when matters of public importance, such as livelihood issues and development, were at stake.
The CPI(M) also tom-tommed Congress leader A.V. Gopinath’s announcement that he would participate in the Navakerala Sadas in Palakkad.
