Cong, BJP activists clash during stir against Kerala govt

Protests staged separately by the opposition Congress and BJP activists against the CPM-led Government in Kerala, on completion of its first year in office, ended in all-out clashes between the two groups here on Thursday.

Tension was palpable since late Wednesday night near the State Secretariat between the two groups – the Indian Youth Congress and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha – over locations chosen for the two protests.

On Thursday, clashes broke out in the morning near the Secretariat and despite police action and intervention by leaders in both camps, tension prevailed in the area for at least three hours.

The sparring activists engaged in clashes with bottles and wooden poles. Banners and flexi-boards erected by rival groups were destroyed. After the protest meetings were inaugurated, the Yuva Morcha activists breached barricades and tried to enter the Secretariat, leading to clashes with the police.

Youth Congress workers also clashed with the police. Police used water cannons on the protesters who later staged a sit-in protest on the road. A policeman sustained injuries in the clashes that ended at about 1 pm.

The two groups had assembled activists from different parts of the state for the protest, organised to counter the Left Government’s programmes to mark its first anniversary.

The Pinarayi Vijayan-led government has lined up events to highlight its welfare schemes and social security initiatives while the Congress and BJP are hitting back with allegations of recurring law and order failures over its one year in office.