THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The UDF leadership claimed that the ‘Lights Off Kerala’ protest staged on Wednesday was remarkable for the overwhelming participation of the public. As part of it, the Opposition had exhorted the public to turn off the lights for three minutes at 9pm.In a release, the Congress-led alliance said the novel protest was a warning against the government and KSEB’s daylight looting of consumers by slapping inflated power bills under the guise of Covid -19.
According to the Opposition, ‘Lights Off Kerala’ heralded a new form of protest in the state. The UDF brass said the public’s strong disapproval is natural since they couldn’t foot the exorbitant bill and hence took part in the silent protest wholeheartedly.“The public’s ire was clearly evident from its participation as neither the government nor the KSEB is ready to correct the mistakes. The people are forced to bear the brunt for the KSEB meter readers’ failure to take the reading on time,” said the UDF brass.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala turned off the lights at the Cantonment House at 9pm. Senior leaders A K Antony and K C Venugopal took part in the protest from New Delhi. Oommen Chandy and Mullappally Ramachandran too joined in the protest from their residences here. Leaders of UDF allies also participated in ‘Lights Off Kerala.’