The Youth Congress (YC) staged a unique protest outside the Civil Station here on Thursday by conducting a reverse auction of sanitary goods worth nearly ₹3,000.
It was a protest against the government for conducting the auction of liquor shops while everything else was in a shut-down stage in view of the COVID-19 scare.
The YC district committee distributed masks, gloves, and hand sanitizers through reverse auction. People turned more and more curious as they could win a sanitizer costing ₹150 for 50 paise.
Unlike usual auctioning, the YC’s auction was in reverse order. “The person bidding the lowest amount could win the auction,” said Riyas Mukkoli, YC State vice president, while inaugurating the auction.
The bid values ranged from ₹1 to 10 paisa. The organisers could collect ₹16.20 through the auction of sanitary goods worth ₹3,000. “We held the reverse auction at a time when toddy auction was going on at the collectorate. This is our simple way of protest,” said Mr. Mukkoli.
He described the toddy shop auction as a folly on the part of the government at a time when there was strict warning against all kinds of assemblies. He also came down on the government for arresting protesters instead of trying to correct its own folly. YC district president Shaji Pacheri presided. State general secretary Haris, district general secretaries Umerali Karekkad, and Sunil K. Cherukode spoke.
