Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Congress workers to court arrest

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress leadership meeting here has announced the first of its planned series of agitations beginning from April 20 against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government's alleged failure to ensure effective administration.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday soon after the leadership meeting, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala said two lakh Congress workers would court arrest as part of the party's picketing programme under the respective block Congress committees. This would be followed by picketing of the District Collectorates on May 5 and picketing of the Secretariat on May 6.

The agitations, which have been planned in the run-up to the local bodies elections, are intended to highlight the LDF government's “all- round failure in tackling price rise, implementing various development programmes and against the deteriorating law and order situation.”

He said that at least 1,000 Congress workers from each of the 280 block Congress committees will court arrest by picketing a State Government office coming under their domain.

“This is the first of the new phase of peaceful agitation that the Congress has planned,” Mr. Chennithala said.

The leadership meeting, which was attended by the office-bearers of the KPCC and the Congress Legislature Party and District Congress Committee presidents, expressed concern at the State government's inaction in tackling drinking water shortage and drought conditions.

Organisational polls

Mr. Chennithala said it had been decided to conduct the organisational polls ahead of the local bodies' election. The State Returning Officer M Krishnaswami will take necessary steps as soon as the scrutiny of membership is over.

The KPCC had received the scrutiny report from 10 districts and the report from the remaining four would be available in the next couple of days. According to the preliminary assessment of the party, the party had been able to enrol 14,88,937 persons as members.

The leadership meeting also gave the green signal for conducting various programmes in connection with the 125th anniversary of the party, to be held under the auspices of the district, block and mandalam committees,0 he said.

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