The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s flagship public outreach programme, Navakerala Sadas, meandered into its fifth and final day in the Kannur district on Wednesday, leaving a slipstream of positive and negative perceptions.
The Kannur leg of the programme saw the Cabinet conferring at a hotel in Thalassery, arguably a one-off meeting which stood out for its historical rarity.
It also drew severe criticism for lining lower primary schoolchildren under the harsh sun on the road in Thalassery to “hail Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan” as the air-conditioned luxury bus ferrying the Cabinet swept past.
A mobile phone video grab of the incident revealed a teacher loudly exhorting the students to continue shouting slogans in Mr. Vijayan’s support.
The Congress said the spectacle, which went viral on social and mainstream media, reaffirmed its accusation that the Cabinet’s public outreach programme resembled a royal procession.
Incensed Muslim Student’s Federation (MSF) workers stormed the District Educational Officer’s chamber, demanding action against the teachers.
The MSF also protested the DEO’s purported decision to ferry hundreds of school children to Navakerala Sadas venues.
The Congress pointed out that the High Court had earlier thwarted the government’s plan to commandeer school buses to ferry people to “empty” Navakerala Sadas venues.
It accused the police of detaining scores of Youth Congress workers in preventive custody ahead of the Cabinet’s public hearings at Panoor, Mattannur, Peravur and Iritty in the district.
The government saw a political victory in the Congress-ruled Peravur municipality’s decision to allocate ₹1 lakh for the Navakerala Sadas.
Later, municipal chairperson Beena Sasidharan hastily reversed the decision at the Congress’s instance.
The CPI(M) also glimpsed optimism in Indian Union Muslim League leader P.K. Kunhalikutty’s statement that Navakerala Sadas would encounter no belligerent street protests in Malappuram district.
Mr. Kunhalikutty said the UDF would put the government on public trial for the administration’s failures in December, and any demonstrations now were superfluous.
Meanwhile, Congress has petitioned the State Police Chief against Mr. Vijayan for “condoning” the DYFI attack on Youth Congress demonstrators on Tuesday and “fomenting anarchic street violence”.
