Employees of the Alappuzha municipality, affiliated to Left organisations, went on a strike on Saturday in protest against the move to suspend four employees in connection with the missing of files pertaining to Lake Palace Resort owned by Transport Minister Thomas Chandy.
The decision to suspend the employees was announced by Municipal Chairman Thomas Joseph at the council meeting held on Friday.
Leader of the Opposition in the council D.Lakshmanan said the employees had been suspended illegally. There was no majority for the ruling party in the council to pass the resolution when the issue was being discussed.
The chairman announced the suspension unilaterally. The workers were not given notice to seek explanation. He said the involvement of the former UDF ministry in the irregularities in respect of the alleged encroachment was in focus. The Minister facing allegations had been a supporter of the Congress a few years back, he pointed out.