Kerala: UDF workers lay siege to Secretariat over alleged corruption charges against Pinarayi govt

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) started laying siege to the Secretariat on Wednesday over allegations of corruption and failure of the Pinarayi-led LDF government. The UDF members reached the Secretariat at 6 a.m. The protest is being held on the issues of corruption against the government and looting of cooperative banks. The LDF government is being criticised by the opposition for allegedly engaging in corruption and nepotism. The protest will be inaugurated by opposition leader V. D. Satheesan. 

The demands include the resignation of Pinarayi Vijayan as chief minister, actions to control inflation, and an explanation for the treatment of farmers with disregard. 

The protest will also focus on the controversies surrounding the cooperative sector, law and order issues, the AI camera row, K-FON, the CMRL pay-off case, as well as poor governance. UDF convenor M. M. Hassan, former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, Congress state president K. Sudhakaran, Dr. M. K. Muneer, P. J. Joseph, Shibu Baby John, Anoop Jacob, C. P. John, G. Devarajan, Mani C. Kappan, and A. N. Rajan Babu, among others, will all attend the protest. 

In advance of the government's public contact initiative and the Keraleeyam gala in November-December, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have each independently announced a wave of protests.

BJP State President K. Surendran also attempted to hold the government accountable for corruption and poor leadership. He informed the media in Kochi that NDA workers would siege the Secretariat on October 30 in order to demand the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
 

• UDF protest
• Secretariat