Thiruvananthapuram: With CPI(M)-led LDF in Kerala moving ahead with its plan to lay siege to the state secretariat from tomorrow over the solar scam, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Sunday appealed to the opposition to carry out the stir peacefully.
At the same time, he warned that government would be compelled to act tough if the situation slipped out of hand. Protesters from across the state started trickling in to the city since this morning with the LDF planning to mobilise about one lakh volunteers even as the government supplemented the state police with nearly 2000 central para military personnel, who are kept as reserve.
Making a last-minute plea, Chandy said government would not come in the way of anybody's democratic right to stage peaceful protests but it was duty-bound to maintain rule of law. Spurning the olive branch held out by Chandy, LDF leaders
rejected the offer of talks asserting there was no compromise on the demand for his resignation.
The solar scam, rocking the state for some two months, has brought Chandy under a cloud, especially after the arrest of a personal assistant in his office for his alleged links with the accused. Another personal staff member and gunman have been removed from the CMO after coming under the shadow of suspicion.
The scam pertains to financial cheating of several people by the accused Biju Radkahrishnan and Saritha Nair, both under arrest, by offering clients solar energy solutions.The accused allegedly flaunted their clout with the CM's office for duping the unsuspecting clients of huge sums.
National leaders of the Left and allied parties including JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda besides Prakash Karat (CPI-M) and Sudhakar Reddy (CPI) will address the protesters. LDF's plan is to paralyse the functioning of the seat of power by blocking all the four gates of the secretariat complex.
Police, however, is keen to keep at least one gate of the secretariat unaffected so that ministers, bureaucrats and employees could go in and come out of the complex. An emergency meeting of KPCC office bearers, held here to take stock of the situation, rallied behind Chandy dubbing the LDF stir as a ruse to topple an elected government through undemocratic means.
"This is an utterly undemocratic and deplorable move to topple the government. Congress and UDF allies will thwart such attempts," KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala told reporters.
However, reflecting the differences within Congress about the manner in which the agitation was being dealt with, former KPCC president K Muraleedharan said government's preparations had actually imparted greater publicity to the LDF campaign, which would have fizzled out in due course.
Top police sources said the central forces camping in the city would be deployed only if a situation arose for that and police were confident of tackling the situation. Holiday has been declared for educational institutions in the city for the next two days and sale of liquor banned since last evening.
Unfazed by elaborate arrangments by the government to deal with the stir, left volunteers from all the 14 districts in the state have set off to converge in Thiruvanathapuram, the state capital, at least by wee hours tomorrow.
CPI(M) and CPI have cranked up their machinery to put up the volunteers, mostly in houses of local cadres. A public kitchen has also been opened in the city to feed the protesters. CPI-M would be mobilising some 75,000 volunteers through
branch committees in all the districts and CPI another 25,000, LDF sources claimed.
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