Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who left Medical College Hospital on Tuesday after sustaining minor injuries in stone pelting by Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) workers in Kannur on Sunday, has rejected the Home Department’s proposal to give him stronger security cover.
Mr. Chandy left the hospital around 10 a.m. after doctors concluded that his condition was stable. He was advised complete rest for three days and cancelled his mass contact programme scheduled to be held in Kollam during the day. The Chief Minister, accompanied by his daughter, grandson, and Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, drove straight to Cliff House, his official residence.
Talking to reporters as he emerged from the hospital, the Chief Minister took full responsibility for the incident and said if there was any failure on the part of the police, he was responsible for it.
Party workers had warned him about the possibility of violence well before he reached Kannur town to attend the valedictory of the Kerala Police Athletic Meet. The police had also warned him that there would be an attempt for a repeat of the Koothuparambu police firing (on November 24, 1994, killing five Democratic Youth Federation of India workers and injuring six others). The incident was the result of the police not trying to clear one of the entry points to the police parade ground. They did not do so as instructed by him.
He had also told the Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP) that there should be no use of force to facilitate his entry into the ground. The police had only gone by his directive.
The fact that the Opposition workers had laid siege to all three entrances to the ground showed that their intention was not to stage a protest demonstration, but to cause violence. Whenever he had taken alternative routes, he was accused of having run away from the people.
He did not propose to do anything of the kind and would continue to work among the people, the Chief Minister said.
