UDF workers lay siege to secretariat as part of protest against LDF govt

Deputy leader of opposition and IUML leader PK Kunhalikutty and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala among others addressed the workers

Hundreds of workers and leaders of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) laid siege to the secretariat building in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday as part of a protest against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government over allegations of corruption and for pushing the state into financial ruin.

Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan hit out at the Left Front government in Kerala for not paying the arrears due to school headmasters and teachers in the midday meal scheme. (PTI)

The workers of UDF constituents, such as the Congress, IUML, RSP and Kerala Congress factions, assembled in front of the secretariat in the central part of the city as early as 6 am and blocked three of the four entry gates to the government building. Only the Cantonment gate remained open to allow ministers and bureaucrats.

“This protest is part of a fight to open the eyes of the state government to the plight of the people of Kerala. This is just the beginning. The UDF has the strength to push the LDF into correcting the wrongs it has committed,” Congress state president K Sudhakaran said at the event.

Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan hit out at the government for not paying the arrears due to school headmasters and teachers in the midday meal scheme. “The government says it doesn’t have the money, but there is no end to the lavishness. The headmasters and teachers are spending their salaries to pay for midday meals of kids. A chief minister who cannot pay for the midday meals of little kids is going around the state in a massive convoy of 40 cars,” he said

Deputy leader of opposition and IUML leader PK Kunhalikutty and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala among others addressed the workers. The protest signalled in many ways the start of the UDF campaign ahead of the parliamentary elections next year.

The mass protest led to major traffic snarls in the city thus causing inconvenience to morning commuters. Traffic on the roads leading to the secretariat was diverted with police personnel deployed at critical junctions.

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