The Congress party has by now become infamous for scripting its own downfall. What unfolded in Kochi on Monday involving actor-producer Joju George can be justified in no way.
The actor had a reason to react angrily against Congress cadres who brought traffic to a standstill while resorting to a road blockade to protest the fuel price hike on the busy Vyttila-Edapally stretch of NH66 bypass in Kochi. The actor's car was held up in the traffic for nearly one hour. But what made him react angrily was the fact that a woman cancer patient heading for chemotherapy was stranded in an autorickshaw. She reportedly told the actor that if she miss this appointment she would get the next appointment only after nearly a fortnight.
So the actor got out of his car and questioned the protesters who responded to him in a hostile manner and vandalized his Land Rover Defender. The actor was injured in the melee.
The district Congress president Mohammed Shiyas and others claimed that Joju was drunk and he misbehaved with women protesters. However, a medical examination conducted on Joju revealed that he was not drunk.
The Congress leaders were divided over the mode of protest resorted by the party and the attack on the actor. State Congress president K Sudhakaran, who assumed charge in June this year with the aim of reviving the party, slammed the actor saying he behaved like a "street goon."
A section of the film fraternity including actor Joy Mathew and state ministers have come out in support of Joju George. Meanwhile, the Maradu police booked Congress leaders who vandalized the actor's car under a non-bailable section. Police have identified former Kochi mayor Tony Chammany and six others as responsible for vandalizing Joju's car. They are likely to be arrested today. The damage caused to the car was reported to be to the tune of Rs 6 lakh. The damage Congress suffered is inestimable.