Tension prevails at district panchayat office as Congress workers stage protest

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tension prevailed at the district panchayat office at Pattom here on Tuesday after Youth Congress workers staged a protest against alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct by local body officials. The protesters led by Congress leader Sarathchandra Prasad, who protested in front of the office, blocked a lorry carrying souvenirs published by the panchayat.

Trouble started around 12.30pm after the workers accused the panchayat of illegally publishing souvenirs allegedly meant to be used for the LDF campaign. The souvenirs were being loaded on a lorry which displayed an ‘on hospital duty’ board. According to them, this was being done by the authorities as part of the covert bid to influence voters.  

Though the medical college police rushed to the spot and attempted to disperse the protesters, they demanded an urgent intervention by the State Election Commission. A group of BJP workers also rushed to the spot raising slogans against LDF-ruled panchayat. Later, a team led by Deputy Collector G K Suresh confiscated the souvenirs and the lorry and shifted it to the collectorate. V K Madhu, outgoing president of the district panchayat, told reporters that the souvenirs were published well before the model code  had come into effect.