Several Youth Congress (YC) activists were injured during a clash with the police after they took out a demonstration to the Milma headquarters here on Monday.
The agitators accused the government of scuttling the upcoming elections to the Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union (TRCMPU) through illegal means.
The demonstration that commenced from Pattom was blocked using barricades as the protesters neared the Milma Bhavan. The refusal of agitators to disperse from the area led the police to use water cannons on them.
With the situation threatening to go out of control, the police lathicharged the protesters, leaving many injured. Youth Congress State general secretary Nemom Shajeer sustained head injury, while five others were also injured and later admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital here. M. Vincent, MLA, led a demonstration held later to protest against the police action.
District Congress Committee president Palode Ravi and Mr. Vincent demanded stern action against police officials for alleged excess against the protesters.
They accused the returning officer appointed for the upcoming elections to the TRCMPU of removing eligible voters from the voters’ list.
The managing committee of the Anchuthengu dairy cooperative society had been dissolved through illegal means at a time when identification cards were being issued for representatives of societies that were eligible to take part in the poll scheduled to be held on April 9. Such efforts were part of a conspiracy to deny UDF-ruled societies the opportunity to take part in the election, they claimed.
