THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: BJP leaders, including state president K Surendran were arrested and removed from the gates of the Assembly where the party staged a protest demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in connection with the gold smuggling case.Surendran said BJP will continue its agitation till the Chief Minister steps down from his post. The BJP leader also lodged protest over the party’s lone MLA O Rajagopal not being allowed to speak on a resolution against privatisation of the Thiruvananthapuram airport.
The BJP president termed the incident of Rajagopal being denied oppurtunity to speak as ‘anti-democratic’ . The protest was inaugurated by the MLA who came out from the Assembly to join the protesters outside.
Other leaders who were arrested included general secretaries George Kurien and P Sudheer, vice president V T Rema and secretaries S Suresh and C Sivankutty.