Youth Congress and Yuva Morcha workers clash before Secretariat over slot allocation
Opposition's laying siege turns street fight.
Thiruvananthapuram: In an apparent struggle for space, the Youth Congress and the BJP’s Yuva Morcha workers clashed as they came before the secretariat to lay a 24-hour siege on Thursday. The strikes were staged on the occasion of the first anniversary of Pinarayi Vijayan government’s rule which they described as a failure. The workers of both the parties had arrived in the capital from various districts on Wednesday evening itself. The Yuva Morcha rally was inaugurated by their national president Poonam Mahajan and the Youth Congress rally by national president Amrinder Singh Raja Brar. However, around 9 a.m., the two groups clashed, destroyed the flexes and hurled bottles and stones at each other.
As per police sources, the Yuva Morcha men were allotted a slot near the gate close to Pankaj Hotel. The Youth Congress workers were given space near Cantonment Gate. But both chose to protest at North Gate, also known as ‘Samara gate,’ for higher visibility. Leaders of both the parties ironed out the confusion by 9.30 a.m. Later, the workers hurled stones at the police and tried to storm the secretariat. Two policemen were injured and Youth Congress men managed to jump into the premises. The police lathicharged them and used water cannons to disperse the violent agitators. CPM MP M.B. Rajesh said that the Opposition parties had organised a comedy show in front of the secretariat. The Yuva Morcha leaders claimed that their friction with the Youth Congress members was being overplayed though it was a minor scuffle.
Pinarayi, Modi two sides of the same coin: Brar
All-India Youth Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Brar said here on Thursday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan were following anti-people policies. He was inaugurating the Youth Congress siege of secretariat against the LDF government's one year in office. “Modi and Pinarayi are like two sides of the same coin. Pinarayi has just changed the names of the central schemes and implemented them here,” he said. Ms Poonam Mahajan, BJP MP and national Yuva Morcha president, who inaugurated the Yuva Morcha's siege of the secretariat, demanded that Governor P. Sathasivam should intervene to stop the murder politics of the CPM. She also criticised Mr Pinarayi Vijayan’s style of functioning.
LDF mocks Youth Congress, Morcha protests
The ruling LDF on Thursday mocked at the protest organised by the opposition youth organisations, the Youth Congress and Yuva Morcha, on the occasion of the first anniversary of Pinarai Vijayan government. Left leaders said the protest which was meant to be against the government ended up in a street battle between the two organisations. Through the day the activists of both the organisations kept clashing with each other forgetting their objective of fighting the government policies much to the relief of the Left leadership.
Political observers say what was witnessed in front of secretariat hinted at BJP led organisations' growing aggression and desperation to emerge as major opposition force. They feel it is a calculated move from the BJP affiliated outfits to exploit every opportunity to position itself against the LDF government. While the fight for opposition space is expected to increase in the coming days, the LDF seems to be sitting comfortable witnessing the struggle between the Congress and the BJP on the ground. Left fellow travellers admit that while the Congress led UDF has been able to put up stiff opposition in Assembly and even succeeded in putting the government in the dock on several issues, when it came to mobilising the people on the ground the BJP seems to be taking the lead in rallying large number of youth towards its agitations.