A demonstration taken out by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) to Raj Bhavan here in protest against the Centre’s purported political witch-hunt against senior Congress leaders, including All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, MP, turned violent after some activists attempted to scale barricades and storm the premises on Thursday.
Two police personnel, including a woman, sustained injuries after protesters hurled stones at them. Three Congress activists were arrested in this connection.
All hell broke loose shortly after senior KPCC leaders addressed party workers and left the makeshift stage erected on a lorry near Raj Bhavan.
As several activists tried to topple the barricades, the police used water cannons on them twice to dissuade them. However, the agitators regrouped and hurled stones and sticks at the police. This prompted the police to fire eight grenades and four tear gas shells to force a retreat. Congress workers Leena, Supriya and Sudha were detained by the police and shifted to the Armed Reserve camp after recording arrest.
Earlier, KPCC president K. Sudhakaran who inaugurated the protest lashed out at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over its questioning of Mr. Gandhi in the National Herald case and the Delhi police for allegedly barging into the All India Congress Committee headquarters and assaulting party workers. He alleged the action was yet another attempt made by the Centre to cow down its political rivals.
Accusing the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of misusing Central agencies for political gains, Mr. Sudhakaran alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was hell-bent on pursuing unfair means to achieve its aim of a Congress-free India.
“Such efforts are bound to remain futile as the party has mobilised lakhs of activists across the country to thwart the conspiracy hatched by the BJP and the Sangh Parivar,” he said.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan also alleged that the Central agencies had been functioning in accordance with the political stance of the BJP’s national leadership. “While it has preferred to go slow with probes against the Left Democratic Front in the SNC-Lavalin and UAE diplomatic channel gold smuggling cases, the Congress has always been at the receiving end of unfair action. The double standards shown by agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED, proved the nexus between the BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)],” he claimed
Senior Congress leaders Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, United Democratic Front (UDF) convener M.M. Hassan, MPs, MLAs and District Congress Committee presidents spoke during the agitation.
