Tension prevailed at Mundakayam on Saturday when Congress and Youth Congress activists waved black flags at Government Chief Whip P.C. George at 10.20 a.m. on Saturday.
Mr. George was on his way to inaugurate a farmers’ day observance at the Krishi Bhavan at Mundakayam. Unidentified persons hurled stones at Mr. George from the Krishi Bhavan side.
The police had to resort to a lathi-charge to bring the situation under control. As many as nine Congress workers were injured in the melee.
Mr. George was seen forcibly moving away Circle Inspector, Kanjirappally, K. Kunjumon while the officer attempted to control the crowd.
Some CPI(M) activists took out a march raising pro-George slogans.
Protest march
Later, in the evening, Congress activists took out a protest march in Mundakayam raising slogans against Kerala Congress(M) leader and Finance Minister K.M. Mani, and Mr. George.
Meanwhile, speaking to media persons on the sidelines of a function, Mr. Mani admitted that differences existed between Mr. George and certain Congress leaders. He said that an emergency meeting would be held to iron out all such differences. Joining the issue, Kerala Congress (M) general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Joy Abraham criticised the burning of Mr. George in effigy by Youth Congress activists on Friday.
In a statement issued here, he said that such actions threatened to adversely affect the cohesion within the UDF. He added that contentious issues must be resolved through discussions.