The indefinite agitation of the left at the State Secretariat to force Congress Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to resign for his alleged involvement in the infamous solar scam paralysed normal life in Kerala’s capital city, Thiruvananthapuram, on Day One, Monday but failed to bring Governmental business to a halt despite the presence of tens of thousands of activists.
Activists of the Opposition lDF blocked three of the four gates of the Secretariat totally while the Government could ensure near-normal functioning of the State’s administrative headquarters, where 66.68 per cent of the employees reported on duty using the remaining gate, which was under tight security, for entering and exiting.
Chandy and his Ministers even held a Cabinet meeting at 9.00 am inside the Secretariat though they had to enter it surreptitiously under police cover at 6.30 am. “There is nothing in this for the Government to claim any upper hand as the Ministers had sneaked into the Secretariat before the start of the siege at 10.00 am,” said Deputy Opposition leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
But the Government made it clear on Monday evening that it would do anything to defeat the siege by declaring Tuesday and Wednesday as holidays for the State Secretariat in the name of preparations for Independence Day celebrations, thus denying the agitators an opportunity to compensate for their setback on Monday.
At least 50,000 leftist activists drawn from all the 14 districts of the State had converged on the Capital city despite the police’s various preventive measures like cancellation of railway reservations and permits of vehicles carrying agitators and reducing State-run bus services. The crowds of agitators in the capital were expected to swell further in the coming days.
Referring to the Cabinet meeting and employees’ attendance level, Congress leaders claimed that the agitation had been defeated on the very first day but State CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, chief architect of the lDF’s Secretariat siege, said, “Everybody knows that police barricades are no hindrances before people’s power but this stir is similar to a Satyagraha in several ways.”
leaders of the CPM-led lDF Opposition said the protest would continue till Chandy resigned. “How long can he stay in power in front of the people’s ireIJ” asked Pinarayi. Those who are here today would continue here. Thousands more will join them in the coming days,” he said.
The Cabinet, at its meeting, decided not to relent on agitators if there were attempts to disrupt peace but there would be no use of force if the stir remained peaceful. Police sources said there were instructions for maximum restraint and not to let a situation that necessitated deployment of Central paramilitary forces in the frontline develop.
The Government had deployed over 8,000 police personnel, including 2,000 men from Central Paramilitary forces, in riot gear complete with guns and grenades to meet any eventuality emanating from the siege, turning the Capital city into a fortress and inviting flak from different corners for over-reacting to a peaceful people’s agitation.
The siege was inaugurated by former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (S) leader HD Deve Gowda at a function held at the Secretariat’s North Gate in which CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, his CPI counterpart Sudhakar Reddy, Kerala Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan and other senior leaders participated.
Agitation on the first day was peaceful, barring a few minor incidents. There were moments of tension on Monday afternoon at Bakery Junction, one of the main city points, when agitators engaged in altercation with the police leading to limited use of force but the situation was brought under control with the timely intervention of senior leaders.