THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress state president K Sudhakaran on Monday yet again blamed actor Joju George for the incidents witnessed during the recent Ernakulam district Congress committee(DCC)-sponsored road blockade, staged in protest against skyrocketing fuel prices. He also defended MP V K Sreekandan over the tumult in Palakkad, witnessed in connection with the 15-minute ‘Stop the Wheel’ protest against fuel tax on Monday.
Sudhakaran was speaking after inaugurating the ‘Stop the Wheel’ protest in front of the Secretariat. Opposition leader V D Satheesan, who is known for his stand against road blockades, stayed away on the ground that he was busy with the assembly discussion on Mullaperiyar dam.
The protest, which was peaceful across the state except in Palakkad, was held from 11am to 11.15am at all district headquarters. But party workers had blocked traffic in several districts causing hardships to people. A flare-up occurred between police and Congress workers at Sultanpet Junction in Palakkad, when police asked V K Sreekandan to clear out.
Meanwhile, Sudhakaran blamed state and Central governments for not slashing the fuel tax rate in proportion to global crude prices. “People expect the state government to slash fuel tax rates and not undertake mega projects like K-Rail by availing loans to the tune of several thousand crore. The Congress has been staging protests for the benefit of people. If the authorities think that they can sideline the Congress’ protest, we will be forced to spread our protests far and wide,” said Sudhakaran.
Though the protest was also held at Palayam, barely a stone’s throw away from Kerala Assembly complex, Satheesan was conspicuous by his absence. Earlier, when the Congress’ protest in Kochi had snowballed into a major controversy, Satheesan had taken a stand against the party’s mode of protest, which inconvenienced the public.
On Monday, Satheesan opined that since the adjournment motion discussion on the raging controversy on tree felling in Mullaperiyar dam was going on, he will not be able to join the protest. Later, Sudhakaran maintained that not all leaders were supposed to attend the 15-minute protest. The ‘Stop the Wheel’ protest was staged on Secretariat-Palayam-Museum-Keltron Junction-Vellayambalam -Raj Bhavan stretches, which saw morning rush hour traffic being diverted through by-lanes.