The Congress has moved to put the government on the defensive by ratcheting up its agitation against the State law enforcement’s allegedly heavy-handed response to the party’s black flag demonstrations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s motorcade during the recently concluded Navakerala Sadas, the Cabinet’s public outreach programme.
The law enforcement’s purported move to reward officers who gave cover to the Chief Minister’s motorcade appears to have added insult to the Congress’s perceived injury. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan portrayed the “decision” as a challenge to democracy and a mockery of the Opposition’s agitation.
On Wednesday, a galaxy of top Congress leaders will lay the ground to portray the government as authoritarian and far removed from the travails of the people by observing a “liberation from fascism” day across Kerala. They will also spotlight the acquittal of the suspect in the rape-murder of a child in Idukki and “dismal” crowd management in Sabarimala as prime examples of police apathy.
