Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Pedestrians, the ‘siege’ victims

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hundreds of Congress workers laid siege to the Secretariat and adjoining areas in the city for several hours on Tuesday protesting against the alleged anti-people policies of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.

The siege which began around 6.30 a.m. went on till 1 p.m., with a galaxy of senior Congress leaders including K. Karunakaran addressing the supporters from a makeshift podium erected in front of the Secretariat.

At 9 a.m., the activists sealed all entry points to the Secretariat building and erected a human barricade across the arterial M.G. Road near the University College behind a banner proclaiming the siege. The drastic measure led to some feisty arguments between the protestors and pedestrians, mostly office-goers and college students, who attempted to break the cordon disregarding the siege. On a couple of occasions the wordy dual got physical with the supporters pushing those who dared to challenge them.

A few of the protestors were seen trying to convince road-users of the relevance of the siege in highlighting issues such as the rise in price of essential commodities, electricity and water. But few were willing to buy the argument with a section of the public vociferously expressing their displeasure. “They (protestors) are appropriating the road as if it is their private property,” fumed one pedestrian who was prevented by the protestors from crossing the barricade. The pedestrian was eventually forced to take a circuitous route to reach the destination.

Mr. Karunakaran inaugurated the siege. G. Karthikeyan, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, V.S. Sivakumar, president, District Congress Committee, M.M. Hassan, Thennala Balakrishna Pillai and Varkala Kahar, were present.

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