Pala, the home turf of beleaguered Kerala Congress (M) leader K.M. Mani, is all set to enter a long weekend, extending for five days, from Friday when the United Democratic Front (UDF) will hold a dawn-to-dusk hartal in the constituency. The hartal has been called by the UDF in protest against the personal attack on Mr. Mani with the intent to malign him, a press release issued here on Thursday said.
The UDF has also roped in the support of other mass organisations for the hartal, which will cover the entire Pala Assembly segment. Essential services have been exempted from the protest.
Meanwhile, the LDF that was yet to launch any effective agitation on the bar licensing bribe controversy has awakened from its long slumber and decided to hold a hartal on Saturday in the Assembly segment. The hartal is in protest against the continuation of Mr. Mani as a member of the Cabinet and to demand his resignation. The LDF has also called for a hartal in the adjoining panchayats of Mangattupilly, Uzhavoor, Kadaplamattom, and Veliyannoor which fall outside the Assembly segment.
After Sunday, Pala will awaken again to a holiday on January 26, Republic Day, a holiday for government offices and banks. Tuesday marks yet another hartal. This time, a State-wide dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanding the resignation Mr. Mani in wake of the allegations raised against him in the bar licensing bribe scandal.
The break extends from today’s hartal called by UDF in Mani’s defence to Tuesday’s BJP hartal seeking his resignation.
