BJP workers on Sunday laid seige to the party district office here, protesting against the alleged CPI(M)-BJP alliance in the standing committee elections in Kumbala grama panchayat.
Party workers from Manjeswaram, Kumbala and Kasaragod areas thronged the office on Sunday as State president K. Surendran was scheduled to reach Kasaragod on the day. But he did not turn up, prompting the activists to stage a protest. They shouted slogans against Mr. Surendran and refused to leave the office premises.
Differences within the party have been coming out in the open since the standing committee elections in Kumbala grama panchayat in 2020. A section of party workers alleged that Koggu of the CPI(M) was made chairman of a standing committee with the support of the BJP. The standing committee comprises two BJP members and one each from the CPI(M) and the IUML.
BJP Kasaragod constituency secretary K. Shankar alleged that his party had supported Koggu, who had been sentenced to seven years imprisonment in connection with the murder of BJP activists. He admitted that there was an alliance between the two parties in the grama panchayat with the knowledge of the district leadership. However, BJP workers were unaware of the tie-up, he added. The matter was brought to the attention of the party State president too.
However, no action was taken against the district leadership that included former district president K. Srikanth, who is now the party State secretary. Instead, they were promoted, he alleged.
Mr. Shankar also demanded that standing committee chairpersons Premalatha and Premavathi resign from their posts. Party district vice president P. Ramesh had stepped down from the post in protest on Saturday. Meanwhile, the protestors said that they would not allow the district office to be opened without resolving the issue.
