Anti-government demonstrations, street skirmishes between the police and Opposition activists, and tit-for-tat attacks on party offices continued unabated in Kerala on Wednesday.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been on the warpath against the government for the past ten days. The Opposition parties are agitating for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s resignation after Swapna Suresh, a former UAE consulate employee and gold smuggling case suspect, accused him of an egregious breach of ministerial conduct during the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) administration.
Upping the ante in their conflict against the government, the Congress and BJP amplified Swapna’s allegation that Mr. Vijayan had lobbied for his daughter, Veena, with a Gulf potentate.
In a sworn statement in court, Swapna reportedly alleged that Mr. Vijayan had requested the monarch to allow his daughter to start an IT firm in the Gulf country during an interaction at Cliff House, the Chief Minister’s official residence. However, Swapna had alleged that the proposal did not materialise after the potentate allegedly raised questions about a possible conflict of interest. At the time, Swapna was the UAE Consul General’s executive secretary in Thiruvananthapuram.
Swapna had also alleged, somewhat sensationally, that Chief Minister’s Office misused the consulate’s diplomatic channel to “illegally import” contraband gold concealed in “brass biryani vessels” at Cliff House’s behest. The accusations provoked Congress and BJP workers to take to the streets to press for Mr. Vijayan’s resignation.
Several persons sustained injuries on both sides when -Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morch (BJYM) workers clashed with the police in front of the Secretariat. The police discharged water cannons to deter the mob, which scaled police barricades, shouted anti-government slogans and waved black flags. Similar scenes unfolded in other districts.
Congress workers protested in Kottayam, Kozhikode and Alappuzha.
Both parties threatened to escalate their agitations until Mr. Vijayan resigned and faced a criminal enquiry
Meanwhile, the tit-for-tat attacks between Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers and Congress activists continued unabated. Unknown persons smashed the windowpanes of Kerala Students Union (Thiruvananthapuram) district secretary Ananthakrishnan’s house.
Persons alleged to be CPI(M) workers hurled a country bomb at the Congress office at Kuttiyadi, near Ambalakulangara, in Kozhikode.
CPI(M) marchers, protesting against the in-flight Congress demonstration against Mr. Vijayan, raised “threatening slogans” against the Opposition at Thikkodi, near Koyilandi, in Kozhikode.
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