Frayed political tempers marked the fourth day of the Kerala Cabinet’s public outreach programme, the Navakerala Sadas, in the Kannur district on November 21.
The day seems poised to unfold against a tense backdrop of opposition protests triggered by alleged Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] attack on Youth Congress workers who staged a black flag demonstration as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s motorcade swept past Eripuram near Pazhayangadi in Kannur on Monday.
The Pazhayangadi police have booked 14 CPI(M) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) workers in connection with the violence. The condition of a Youth Congress worker injured in the violence reportedly remained severe.
Congress has announced that party workers will stage protests at Navakerala Sadas venues in Kannur, Azhikode, Dharmadam and Thalassery Assembly constituencies.
The proclamation has prompted the police to step up security at the Navakerala Sadas venues to prevent opposition activists from infiltrating the audience to stage theatrical protests.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran warned Mr. Vijayan that Congress workers would not allow him to travel freely and uninterrupted after “unleashing CPI(M) goons on peaceful Kerala Students Union (KSU) and Youth Congress protestors”.
Mr. Sudhakaran accused the police of abetting the attackers. He said Congress workers would not heed the directions of CPI(M) activists in police uniforms. “We will resist the CPI(M) ‘s thuggery on the street”, he said.
Minister for Local Self-Government Institutions, M. B. Rajesh, told a news channel in Kannur that Congress action against the CM’s motorcade was a kamikaze attack.
He claimed the attackers had meant to board the bus ferrying the cabinet from a Navakerala Sadas venue.
Mr. Rajesh said Congress was worried that its boycott of the government’s public outreach had thinned out. People were flowing in droves to Navakerala Sadas venues to flag their issues directly with the cabinet. He alleged that the Congress was desperate to change the political narrative by fomenting violence to push the programme out of the spotlight.
CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan and Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor E.P. Jayarajan termed the Congress protest as a suicide attack and terrorist operation, respectively.
