Oommen Chandy's pics with scam accused emerge, Left blockade begins

KOCHI: Thousands of workers of the Left Democratic Front laid siege to the state secretariat demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and a judicial inquiry into what has come to be known as the solar scam.

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI general secretary Sudhakar Reddy and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda of JD(S) attended the meeting that marked the inauguration of the ‘indefinite blockade’ of the state secretariat.

The leaders demanded Chandy’s resignation. Although the agitators took over the roads leading to the different gates of the secretariat by 9 am, Chandy and most of his Cabinet colleagues entered the building through a security corridor for their Cabinet meeting. Later they found their exit blocked by tens of thousands of LDF workers participating in the blockade.

The police had taken control of the cantonment gate of the secretariat from Sunday to provide a safe passage to the ministers and government employees in and out of the building. Though the chief minister and some of his colleagues left the secretariat building through this gate, six ministers had to spend the entire day in the office because of the blockade.

Home minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said that the police would not provoke LDF workers though a police driver was hurt and two police vehicles were destroyed by the LDF workers. He said that 67% employees reported for work on Monday. They were taken out of the secretariat building in the evening in police vehicles. Though tension between the police and striking LDF workers escalated at one point of time, intervention of CPM leaders brought the situation under control.

CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said that Oommen Chandy’s days as CM were numbered. In a related development, a local TV channel on Sunday released a picture of Chandy speaking to the solar-scam accused Saritha Nair. He had said in the assembly that he had never met Nair.

LDF leaders promptly demanded Chandy’s resignation now that ‘evidence of his association’ with Saritha has been ‘proven’. Nair and her companion have been accused of cheating several business organisations and individuals by collecting money from them and promising to supply equipment for solar power.