THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The UDF entered the Asia Book of Records by displaying the longest protest banner of 70 km, bearing 1.08 crore signatures of the people without break for three minutes, against the wrong policies of the state and central governments.
It began from Secretariat and ended in front of the Kollam district collectorate. Tens of thousands of UDF workers and leaders from all over the state became part of the historic event held without a break for three minutes from 5 pm by the left side of the national highway, as the second phase of ‘Padayorukkam’ led by Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala.
The Guinness Book of World Records, in the last minute, had excused from including the event, citing it as a bar for counting political protests.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala picked the one end of the banner in front of Secretariat while former chief minister Oommen Chandy held the other end at Kollam, as participants en route made a war cry against the Narendra Modi and Pinarayi Vijayan led governments, holding both dispensations as birds of the same feather in ‘burdening the people’.
Vivek Raja, adjudicator of Asia Book of Records, made the declaration of the record and presented certificates and citation to the Opposition leader soon after the protest. IICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik said the massive participation of people in the signature campaign shows that their hopes while electing the Narendra Modi and Pinarayi governments remain shattered.