Farmers stage protest, organize bandh in Sindhanur demanding purchase of corn
Sindhanur: The Sindhanur taluk bandh call given by various organizations in support of farmers demanding the purchase of corn received excellent response on Monday, with several businessmen keeping their shops closed.
Members of CPIML (Liberation), Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Sindhanur taluk unit, pro-farmer and pro-Kannada organizations, business associations, taluk lawyers’ association and contractors’ associations were among the organizations that participated in the bandh on Monday, as thousands of protesters took out a rally shouting slogans against the state government.
The leaders of the associations said that the state government had not responded to the farmers’ request to open the purchase of corn. They alleged that the urgent measures were being taken to alleviate the situation when the farmers intensified their struggle, which shows that the government was not concerned about farmers.
A similar protest had been staged by farmers last week, parking their truck outside the tahsildar’s office last week. The Lingasugur Assistant Commissioner Basavannappa Kalashetty and tahsildar in-charge Shruti had requested the farmers for four days’ time to respond to the demands, after which, the farmers withdrew their protest. As the government did not take any decision in the matter so far, the farmers expressed their anger with a protest rally on the streets of Sindhanur.
The government has not released the support price to the farmers who registered their names last December, the protesters pointed out, stressing that the officials are at fault for such shortcomings and not the farmers.
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Second phase Kerala local body polls see turnout of over 60 pc till 3 pm
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The second phase of polling in the crucial local body elections in seven districts of Kerala on Thursday witnessed a turnout of over 60 per cent after eight hours of polling.
Voters began casting ballots from 7 am at the 18,274 polling stations in the districts of Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod.
People of all ages and professions, including political leaders, queued up at polling stations since early morning.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan turned up to vote along with his family in Kannur.
Speaking to reporters after casting his vote, he expressed confidence about a historic win for the LDF and said that the Sabarimala gold loss issue would not affect the prospects of the Left front.
He claimed that the government took stringent action in the matter and if it were any other party in power, such steps would not have been taken.
Regarding the reported claims by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief Sunny Joseph of a conspiracy behind the second complaint of sexual assault against MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, the CM hinted at the presence of a "criminal gang of sexual perverts" in the grand old party.
Vijayan said that such persons intimidated their victims to prevent them from coming forward.
Leaders of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key ally of the Congress, like Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, P K Kunhalikutty and M K Muneer were confident of a huge victory for the UDF in the local body polls.
The Congress also expressed confidence of a historic win and its leaders, Joseph, Ramesh Chennithala and K Sudhakaran, said that the Sabarimala gold issue would affect the LDF prospects in the polls as they were protecting those involved in the scam.
The local body polls are viewed by many as a key indicator ahead of next year's state assembly elections.
In the second phase, over 1.53 crore voters will elect representatives to 12,931 wards across 604 local bodies, including grama panchayats, block panchayats, district panchayats, municipalities and corporations.
A total of 38,994 candidates are in the fray.
The first phase of polling in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki and Ernakulam districts of the state concluded on December 9 with a turnout of around 70 per cent.
The results of both phases of polling will be announced on December 13.
