Notwithstanding the assurances given by the BJP and the government, sporadic incidents of stone throwing marked the party’s hartal on Thursday in protest against the bifurcation of Palakkad railway division to form Salem division.

The hartal which was otherwise peaceful turned out to be total with shops, commercial establishments and schools remaining closed while vehicles and public transport were off the road.

Thin attendance
Government offices recorded scant attendance. At least five people, including three children, were injured in various instances of stone pelting in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Thrissur.

The BJP had rejected calls to put off the hartal saying that the birth of Salem division on Kerala Formation Day was an insult to the state.

However, the party had promised to hold a peaceful hartal. The state government also submitted a statement in the High Court explaining the preventive steps it had taken to ensure peaceful life.

The court on Thursday did express satisfaction at these steps while hearing a batch of petitions demanding that hartals be declared illegal.

The court has issued notices to political parties on the issue of banning hartals.

Truce formula
The CPM-led LDF and Congress-led UDF had accepted a truce formula to end their agitation against the bifurcation of Palakkad railway division. 

However, the BJP had dubbed it as an eyewash and betrayal since Palakkad would be reduced to a mini division with about 800 odd kms of railway line taken away from it.

The size of the Palakkad division being considerably diminished, the state’s attempts to get a railway zone have also suffered a blow.