Kerala capital faces shutdown

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala capital came to a near-shut down situation on Sunday as police and federal paramilitary forces took positions in strategic locations ahead of Monday’s siege of the state secretariat by the opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF).

The government has left no stone unturned in trying to tackle the siege, taking the help of different federal forces including the Central Reserve Police Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Border Security Force to rein in tens of thousands of protesters who are expected to swarm the gates of the secretariat from Monday morning.

Even as the protesters started heading for the state capital from different districts, opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan hit back at Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s 13-point questionnaire to the opposition pointing out that the LDF was” not attempting to topple the government but demanding the resignation of the chief minister”. The demand is with regard to the solar power scam, in which some members of the chief minister’s office are among the accused.

Chandy has asked the opposition to give up their plan for an indefinite siege of the secretariat because the government has not incurred any loss in the solar scam. But the opposition is in no mood to withdraw from their protest plans.

“The chief minister must resign. There is no merit in the argument that there is no proof against the chief minister in the solar scam. Despite several bits of proof having already emerged and adverse comments by the court, the chief minister has refused to resign” Achuthanandan said.

Chandy hit back at the opposition saying that the Communist Party of India (CPI) was adopting double standards in West Bengal and Kerala. “There are 33 cases filed in connection with the solar scam and the total loss estimated in all these cases together is less than Rs 70 million (Dh4.23 million). In West Bengal, an estimated 1.4 million people are estimated to have lost Rs 30 billion in the Sarada Chit scam but the CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxists) is not holding any protest there.

“The CPM state secretary, Prakash Karat, is coming here to join the protest, but not going to Kolkata. So this is a political game,” Chandy alleged.

“My request to the opposition is not to adopt any violent measures. We have not called in the paramilitary forces to threaten anyone but to maintain law and order and protect people’s life and property” Chandy said.

Ahead of the siege, the government suffered a setback when Congress leader and former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K. Muraleedharan said the government itself was giving publicity to the siege by calling in paramilitary forces.

Leaders in different coalition parties of the ruling front, including R. Balakrishna Pillai and P.C. George, have also been critical of the government’s decision to call in federal forces to tackle the siege.