A day after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ruled out a second lockdown, an all-party meeting held on Tuesday unanimously gave a thumbs down for the proposal. The general feeling was that it would hurt the economy and jobs in the state.
Political parties also agreed to cut down on mass agitations that would violate social distancing norms.
The UDF had announced that it would stop all mass protests a day earlier, after the Chief Minister spoke to Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala. However, before the all-party meet began, the BJP state president K Surendran said his party had no intention of calling off protests against the government.
The chief minister said it was true that the BJP president had made such a statement. "But at the all-party meet, he said one more thing," Vijayan said. "He said the party (BJP) would adhere to the COVID-19 protocols that the government would issue. So it can be taken in a positive sense," the chief minister said while addressing the media after the all-party meet.
Vijayan said the government had no intention of prohibiting strikes and protests as it was natural in a democracy. "The only condition is that the protesters should adhere to COVID-19 protocols," he said.
He said there was a consensus at the all-party meet that the virus spread should be reined in at any cost. He said parties have been told to take up leadership roles at the local level to prevent the spread of the disease.
Indirect barb
Even while enlisting their help in tackling the virus, the chief minister once again blamed the opposition for violating COVID protocols, though on Tuesday the barb was sent indirectly. "There was an alarming surge in the number of COVID cases in September. The daily cases have now crossed 7,000. As everyone knows, COVID-19 protocols were not followed in its true spirit. This is the main reason for the virus spread to spiral out of control," the chief minister said.
Since the street protests demanding the resignation of Higher Education Minister KT Jaleel began in early September, it was evident at whom the chief minister's finger was pointed.
He said a new set of guidelines, which would both reiterate the earlier regulations and add new ones, would soon be issued. Kerala had earlier fixed the number that could attend a marriage and funeral at 50 and 20 respectively. "We have not changed this even though at the national level the number that could attend a marriage was raised to 100," Vijayan said.
So to avoid confusion, a fresh set of guidelines would be issued. It would prescribe the number of people that could attend all kinds of social events besides marriages and funerals.
Political parties have also told the Chief Minister to prescribe the maximum number that could attend a political protest or meeting.
