The Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) sought to keep up pressure on Finance Minister K.M. Mani over the bar bribery allegations, by staging a Secretariat siege and blockade of district collectorates on Wednesday.
The stir, decided by the LDF State committee as part of a series of agitations to press for Mr. Mani’s resignation, saw LDF activists picketing the main gates of the State Secretariat and the collectorates from early morning.
Attendance in the Secretariat was thin and this was attributed to the heavy rain that lashed the capital city late Tuesday evening causing extensive havoc. Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan was conspicuous by his absence from the agitation venue despite his being in the city throughout the day.
Inaugurating the siege, CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the LDF would contemplate blocking Mr. Mani if he continued to hold office despite the disclosures against him in the bar bribery case.
The State Secretariat, he said, became alive only after 5 p.m. and Ministers in the UDF Cabinet had no shame in asking for bribe. The casualty of all this was governance.
The Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues were only interested in making money and had little concern for the State’s development, he added.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leaders Pannian Ravindran and C. Divakaran, among others, addressed the LDF activists. In Kochi, the siege was inaugurated by LDF convener Vaikom Viswan and in Kozhikode by CPI(M) Central committee member Elamaram Karim. In Kannur, the siege was inaugurated by CPI(M) State secretariat member M.V. Govindan. In Kannur, the siege was inaugurated by CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran and in Kollam by JD(S) leader Jameela Prakasam, MLA.
