Kochi: The graph of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala will hit rock bottom by the time Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s Nava Kerala Sadas outreach programme ends, Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan said here on Monday.
Terming the Kerala Cabinet’s pan-Kerala bus journey a ‘goons’ ride’, the Muvattupuzha MLA said Pinarayi himself has taken up the privilege of rules violation in the cover of the programme.
“The graph of the government is coming down as the trip passes each kilometre. When it reaches Thiruvananthapuram, the graph will touch the bottom,” Kuzhalnadan said. He was addressing a press conference at the District Congress Committee (DCC) office here along with his fellow Congress MLAs and party leaders in the district.
He said the law violations started with the modification of the bus specially customised for the cabinet tour. “The government has lost the moral right to levy hectic fine from youngsters who modify their bikes,” the lawyer-politician said. He said school buses were being arranged to transport people to the venue by threatening school management. “It’s a procession of rule violations,” he said.
The Congress leaders called the press meet a day after the party’s Perumbavoor MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly was assaulted by alleged members of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). The MLA was assaulted by the youth wing of the ruling CPM when he was at a private hospital with Youth Congress leaders who were injured by DYFI workers for staging a black flag protest against CM Vijayan. The opposition Congress has boycotted the programme calling it LDF’s propaganda event at the state’s expense.
Youth Congress and Kerala Student Union activists have been staging protests against the Nava Kerala Yatra ever since it started. On multiple occasions, the protesters were beaten up by DYFI workers accompanying the yatra.
District Congress Committee (DCC) president Mohammed Shiyas said the party will move to court against Chief Minister Vijayan for inciting violence and DYFI workers for taking the law into their hands. He blamed the police for refusing to take action against the assailants.
Angamaly MLA Roji M John said Vijayan still had the mindset of the accused in the Vadikkal Ramakrishnan murder case. He was referring to one of the early political murders in the state in which Vijayan was an accused. He was acquitted in 1972.
Aluva MLA Anwar Sadath, Thrikkakara MLA Uma Thomas and Congress leaders Abdul Muthalib and Deepthy Mary Joseph also attended the press meet.
