Trade unions called strike near total in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 8: The day-long strike called by central trade unions was near total in Left-ruled Kerala on Wednesday, with vehicles, including state-owned KSRTC and private buses keeping off the roads.
In the state capital, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) did not operate city and long distance services.
Very few private vehicles and auto rickshaws were seen plying on roads.
As Sabarimala pilgrims have been exempted from the strike, KSRTC buses are taking Ayyappa devotees to Pamba.
With trade unions of the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and opposition Congress-headed UDF participating in the strike, most of the staff did not turn up at the Secretariat.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other ministers also did not attend office.
The weekly state cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday had been held a day earlier.
Police have made arrangements to ensure that there are no untoward incidents and 160 police pickets have been set up at various junctions in the city.
Railway sources said train services were unaffected by the strike called by various trade unions and there were no protests at railway stations.
However, passengers who reached the railway station here this morning had a tough time getting vehicles.
Police vehicles were arranged to take patients coming for treatment at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Medical College Hospital and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences.
Initial reports said some Sabarimala pilgrims from Tamil Nadu had to wait for over two hours in Punalur in Kollam to get KSRTC buses for Pamba.
Shops and business establishments were also shut across the state despite the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi, an organisation of traders, stating that they would remain open.
The Mahatma Gandhi, Kerala and Kannur universities have postponed various examinations scheduled for Wednesday.
The central trade unions are protesting against labour reforms, FDI, disinvestment, corporatisation and privatisation policies of the government. They are pressing for a 12-point charter of demands of the working class relating to minimum wage and social security, among others.
This is the second shutdown within a month in Kerala.
On December 7, the state had observed a dawn-to-dusk hartal called by at least 30 Muslim outfits to protest against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
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Kulkarni became victim of BJP conspiracy as he grew politically in North Karnataka: Shivakumar
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Bengaluru (PTI): Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar claimed on Friday that Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case, has become a victim of a BJP conspiracy because he was growing politically in the north Karnataka region.
Stating that he has faith in Kulkarni and believes he has done nothing wrong, he said the former minister will fight the case legally by filing an appeal.
A Bengaluru court on Friday sentenced Kulkarni and fifteen others to life imprisonment in the BJP leader Yogeshgouda Goudar murder case.
On Wednesday, Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, Judge of the Special Court for cases involving elected representatives, convicted Kulkarni and others under various IPC sections, including criminal conspiracy and murder.
“I respect the court. But there was a big conspiracy in this case. When the police were about to file a B-report, the CBI was given the case to harass him (Kulkarni). Vinay Kulkarni has become a victim of a BJP conspiracy as he was growing politically in north Karnataka,” Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, he said Kulkarni has several legal options.
“I have spoken to his family. He swore on God and told me that he had not done anything wrong. I still have faith in him. I feel that he has not done anything wrong. He has an opportunity to file an appeal,” he said, adding that he stands with Kulkarni’s family and supporters and believes he will get justice.
The case pertains to the killing of Goudar, a BJP zilla panchayat member, in Dharwad on June 15, 2016. Kulkarni was a minister at the time. Hired assailants allegedly attacked and hacked Goudar to death in his gym in Saptapur, Dharwad.
Following demands from Goudar’s family and others, the then-BJP government transferred the case to the CBI in 2019.
Veteran BJP leader and former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, under whose tenure the case was handed over to the CBI, told reporters in Chikkamagaluru, “I said what I needed to say when the crime happened, and what I said—that the guilty should be punished and justice should be served—has proven true.”
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, BJP leader and MLC C T Ravi, reacting to the court order, said, “Justice delayed, but not denied.”
