Opposition Congress workers showed black flags to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan at separate places on Monday as part of protests against the ₹two cess imposed on petrol and diesel in the state budget last week.
The protests were held despite the preventive arrest of 10 Congress leaders in Kannur, Kasaragod, and Kozhikode districts ahead of Vijayan’s visit. Six Congress workers were arrested for showing him black flags.
Youth Congress state secretary Sandeep P, district president Sudeep James, and secretary V Rahul were taken under preventive custody while 800 policemen were deployed for Vijayan’s security.
The ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) justified Vijayan’s increased security. “Youth Congress workers are behaving like suicide squads. They are menacingly running towards the convoy of the chief minister and deliberately creating problems,” said CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan.
He said protests forced Vijayan to take a helicopter on a couple of occasions. “The chief minister will flag off a state-wide people’s resistance march against the Union government’s policies in Kasaragod later on [Monday] evening.”
In Kozhikode, police on Sunday removed black flags tied to a post near the house of former legislator C P Kunju, who passed away two days back. When CPI(M) workers protested, they were told police have orders for removing anything black along Vijayan’s route.
The Congress said Vijayan has made the state a laughing stock as he moved like an autocrat. “The state has never seen such a cowardly ruler. I do not know why he is dreading black. We are proud of our boys. The chief minister will have to answer for preventive arrests,” said Congress leader V D Satheesan. He added the party would move the high court against preventive arrests of its leaders.
