Opposition leader: Kerala CM a coward, arrogant over police action during Cong protest

Kochi, Dec 24 (PTI) Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly V D Satheesan on Sunday lashed out at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan calling him a "coward" and "arrogant" over the police allegedly using water cannons and tear gas on Congress leaders a day ago and lodging a case against them for destroying public property.

Kerala Police on Saturday registered a case against state Congress chief K Sudhakaran, Satheesan and the senior leaders, including MP Shashi Tharoor in connection with the violence in Thiruvananthapuram during the party's march to the DGP office.

The LoP, at a press meet here, questioned the rationale behind booking the Congress leaders for criminal offences and destruction of property when water cannons and a tear gas shell were used against them while they were speaking on a stage near the protest site.

State capital Thiruvananthapuram witnessed incidents of violence on Saturday during protests organised by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) in which a battery of senior Congress leaders in Kerala, including senior MPs and MLAs, suffered from suffocation and some were even hospitalised after police fired tear gas shells.

Later, a case was registered by police against the MPs and MLAs under various provisions of the IPC, including that of rioting, obstructing roads and preventing public servants from performing their duties, against all the leaders and the party workers who took part in the protest.

Satheesan alleged that lodging of the case was an attempt to scare the Congress leaders and said that it was unsuccessful.

Regarding the alleged use of water cannons and a tear gas against the Congress leaders, he claimed it was an attempt to harm or kill them as the CM was "angry and frustrated" over the failure of the Nava Kerala Sadas, the state government's outreach programme, and Vijayan becoming a laughing stock before the public.

The LoP said it was the CM who paved the way for conflict and riots in the state by terming assaults on Youth Congress (YC) and Kerala Students Union (KSU) activists as "rescue efforts" and to continue the same.

"Now he is asking us to exercise restraint. He (CM) turned the state into a land of goondas. The police have become mute spectators. The CM is a coward and is arrogant..." "Policing in Kerala has failed. It is being controlled by a group in the CM's office. Left party criminals are running rampant in the state without concern for law and order," he alleged.

He further said that it shows the "double standards" of the CM and his government.

The double standards are also evident in the different modes of action taken against the Students' Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPI(M), and the YC and KSU activists with regard to showing of black flags, Satheesan contended.

The LoP said that the Congress and the UDF would be organising strong protests against the same in the coming days.

He said that the Congress will face the violence against its leaders as well the YC and KSU activists both legally and politically.

The LoP also questioned how the Nava Kerala Sadas had benefited the public and alleged it was used by the CM to turn the state into a place of conflict.

"He (CM) is questioning the logic or common sense of the people through his actions. People have realised that the Nava Kerala Sadas was a political campaign at the cost of public money," he claimed.

Satheesan also said that the UDF would be boycotting the swearing-in of K B Ganesh Kumar as he was allegedly behind the conspiracy to implicate late Congress stalwart Oommen Chandy.

"So, we cannot go there and attend his swearing-in ceremony. We ask the CM and the government to withdraw from the decision to make him a minister," he said. PTI