Poet Sugathakumari and All-India Gandhi Smarak Nidhi chairman P Gopinathan Nair visited the protest venue on Monday afternoon. Sugathakumari conveyed Urban Affairs Minister Manjalamkuzhy Ali’s assurance that neither the plant would be reopened nor garbage be transported to Vilappilsala. However, Vilappil panchayat president Shobhana Kumari rejected her request to stop the fast, demanding a government order on the assurance.
The poet and Congress leader V M Sudheeran had held a meeting with the Minister in the forenoon. ‘’The Minister told us that the plant would not be reopened, but he couldn’t announce it in public as the case was being considered by the High Court,’’ she told the Samara Samithi leaders.
‘’If the government goes back on its promise, myself and Sudheeran will join you here,’’ Sugathakumari added. The poet then contacted the Minister and told the masses that he would address them over phone. The Samithi leaders turned down the request and asked the poet to advise him to meet the aspirations of the people. The poet left the venue with an assurance to take up the issue with the Chief Minister.