SFI puts up unwelcoming banners against Kerala Guv in Ponnani ahead of his visit

Malappuram (Kerala), Jan 10 (PTI) The CPI(M)'s student wing, SFI, erected unwelcoming banners against Governor Arif Mohammed Khan at Ponnani in this north Kerala district where he is scheduled to a commemoration programme organised by the Congress party on Wednesday.

The Students Federation of India (SFI) placed banners stating -- 'Mister Chancellor you are not welcome here' and 'Mister chancellor this is a place where there are a lot of people whom you called bloody criminals, be careful' -- at various places in Ponnani hours ahead of Khan's arrival to participate in a programme to commemorate late Congress leader P T Mohana Krishnan.

Khan had on Tuesday faced a massive protest from various youth outfits affiliated to the ruling Left Democratic Front during his visit to Thodupuzha in Idukki district to participate in a function organised by the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti, a traders' body.

The hartal in Idukki district was called by the LDF in protest against his non-assent to the Kerala Government Land Assignment (Amendment) Bill 2023.

At the traders' body's event, Khan emphasised that he is a public servant and not a rubber stamp.

Many shops remained closed and the number of vehicles on the roads was comparatively less in the high-range district in the initial hours of the dawn-to-dusk hartal.

The SFI had put up banners in many places which said -- "Sanghi Governor not welcome here." The Kerala government passed the bill in the Legislative Assembly on September 14, 2023, taking into consideration the decades-long demand of the people of Idukki district. PTI