A shoe was thrown at Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s vehicle on Thursday at Balaramapuram, Thiruvananthapuram. The shoe thrown from among a crowd of CPI(M) activists protesting against Finance Minister KM Mani, accused of taking bribe from bar owners, did not reach Chandy or his companions in the open jeep but fell on a security officer’s shoulder.
The incident took place when Chief Minister Chandy was on his way to Pallichal Panchayat to participate in the inauguration of a swimming pool. Assembly Speaker N Sakthan and local Administration Minister MK Muneer were with him in the open jeep. Mani was to inaugurate the swimming pool.Slogan-shouting CPI(M) workers had been waiting on the roadside at Balaramapuram to wave black flags at Mani who was to pass by that road when Chandy arrived in the open jeep. Protestors also threw the black flags at the jeep. However, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala later claimed that no shoe had been thrown at the Chief Minister. Chennithala requested the media not to distort an incident of hurling of black flags into shoe-throwing.
After being warned of the possibility of protests, Mani had taken a different route to reach the site of the swimming pool. Protests have been going on across Kerala against Mani, whom the Vigilance had recently exonerated in a case pertaining to the allegation that he had taken bribe of `1 crore from bar owners.