Bandh cripples life in Kerala, CM says won’t quit

The dawn-to-dusk shutdown, called by the Left Democratic Front in Kerala on Wednesday to seek chief minister Oommen Chandy’s exit in a corruption case, crippled life in the state even as Chandy ruled out resignation.

The dawn-to-dusk shutdown, called by the Left Democratic Front in Kerala on Wednesday to seek chief minister Oommen Chandy’s exit in a corruption case, crippled life in the state even as Chandy ruled out resignation.

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Except stray incidents of stone throwing, no major case of violence has been reported. Shops and business establishments remained shut and only few private vehicles were seen in Thiruvananthapuram, where widespread violence and police action took place on Tuesday. In the evening, left workers took out rallies throughout the state.

“If I resign now, I will be doing great injustice to the truth,” Chandy told newsmen.

The shutdown was in response to the case relating to alleged acts of fraudulence committed by a woman named Saritha Nair and her accomplice Biju Radhakrishnan, who did their murky deals on the strength of their contacts with the chief minister’s office.