Congress hartal leads to tension in parts of Kozhikode

Congress hartal in Kozhikode over bank election leads to tension, protests, and police intervention in the district.

A dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the Congress in Kozhikode on Sunday (November 17) in protest against the alleged police inaction and the “undemocratic methods” adopted by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] during an election to pick functionaries for the city-based Chevayur Service Cooperative Bank on Saturday (November 16), led to tension in some parts of the district.

Workers of the Congress and the Youth Congress were seen engaging in arguments with the police, forcing buses to stop their services and insisting that shops down their shutters in and around Mavoor Road in the heart of Kozhikode city.

There were no signs of any trouble when the hartal began at 6 a.m. as buses, including those operated by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), were running smoothly and shops were open in most places. Autorickshaws and private vehicles too were plying on the roads.

However, around 9 p.m., reports emerged about Congress workers stopping buses and shutting down shops at Mukkom. By 10 a.m. Youth Congress workers stopped buses on long-distance routes and those running within the city at the moffusil bus stand and the KSRTC bus station in Kozhikode city. Around an hour later, the party workers took out a protest march from the old district Congress committee (DCC) office premises at Nadakkavu to Kidson Corner near Mananchira. The Congress workers asked the police personnel who were accompanying them to move back, saying they did not need any protection. They were seen forcing shop owners to down their shutters as the protest march wound its way through Wayanad Road and Mavoor Road, and then took a turn towards the right to enter Rajaji Road where the moffusil stand is located.

When the police personnel on duty tried to prevent the Congress workers from intimidating shop owners, the latter retaliated asking where were they when large-scale violence was happening during the Chevayur bank election. There were also reports about the police detaining six Congress activists at Kallachi near Nadapuram for obstructing bus services. Though traders’ bodies such as the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi and the Kerala Vyapari Vyvasayi Samithi had said on Saturday that they would not cooperate with the ‘hartal’ call, many of the shop owners were left with no other option. Talking to the media, Mr. Praveenkumar accused the police of failing in their duty to protect the people and collude with those who indulged in violence.

Meanwhile, G.C. Prasanth Kumar, chairman of the previous board of directors, is among the 11 candidates who were declared elected in the election. Seven of the new directors, including Mr. Prasanth Kumar, are Congress rebels and four others are CPI(M) nominees. The election to the bank became a prestige issue for the Congress as it is among the few cooperative institutions under the party’s control for decades in the district. The CPI(M) had extended support to the rebel Congress faction after the DCC took disciplinary action against them following their differences of opinion with the leadership.