The law and order situation deteriorated further in Kerala on Tuesday as activists of the CPI-M gatecrashed into the official residence of V D Satheesahn, Leader of the Opposition, to demonstrate against the alleged murder attempt on the life of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Many Congress offices in the State came under attack by the workers of the CPI-M. They vandalised and beheaded the larger-than-life-size statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Payyanoor. This is the first time in the history of Kerala, the statue of the Father of the Nation has been vandalised. Two Congress workers who were arrested at Thiruvananthapuram Airport on Monday reportedly for raising slogans demanding the resignation of Vijayan who was in the aircraft were charged with attempt to murder the latter. This was based on the complaint filed by the gunman of the chief minister who was accompanying him in the flight from Kannur to the capital city.
EP Jayarajan, the LDF Convenor who also was accompanying Vijayan in the flight, who physically assaulted the Congress workers and had alleged that they were inebriated, made a vault face on Tuesday morning and said that they were not drunk. Though the gun man of the chief minister had filed a complaint with the airport police, the airlines IndiGo was yet to file any report or complaint with the police about the happenings in the aircraft.
The war of words between the CPI-M and the Congress continued unabated on Tuesday as Leader of the Opposition V D Satheeshan demanded the arrest of Jayarajan under IPC sections of attempt to murder the Congress workers.
A Congress worker who was arrested from the aircraft on Monday has been identified as a teacher in a Upper Primary school in Kannur district.
“Though the CPI-M severely criticized the Congress for demanding the chief minister’s resignation over a non-issue, the Marxists made it known that they were game for any kind of alliance with the Grand Old Party in days to come. We strongly condemn the ED’s action in summoning and interrogating former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. We also condemn the high handedness of the Delhi Police in physically assaulting the Congress leaders in New Delhi for protesting against the summoning of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi,” said E P Jayarajan, the Marxist strongman who is also the LDF convenor on Tuesday.