Kerala: BJP protest at Thiruvananthapuram Corpn alleging corruption in purchase of laptops

Thiruvananthapuram | Tension prevailed at the City Corporation headquarters here as a protest carried out by opposition BJP councillors and activists against the CPI(M)-led ruling administrative panel raising corruption charges turned violent on Saturday.

The BJP councillors alleged corruption worth lakhs of rupees in the purchase of laptops distributed among school students by the Left-ruled Corporation.

The protesters, including women councillors, took out a march to the Corporation which was blocked by the police by placing barricades.

The police had to press multiple rounds of water cannon when the protesters tried to jump the barricades and enter the campus.

The protesters, who showed no immediate readiness to backtrack, also engaged in a scuffle with the law enforcers.

A BJP woman councillor later told the media that the CPI(M)-ruled administrative panel in the Corporation is engrossed in corruption.

She alleged that not just in the purchase of laptops, but there was corruption even in the arrangements made in connection with the temple festival Attukal Pongala.

However, the CPI(M) sources in the Corporation alleged that the protest was carried out to cover up the corruption allegations against the BJP councillors.