Clash in Palakkad Municipality meet, Chairperson says assaulted by Left-Cong councillors

Palakkad, April 29 The Palakkad Municipality in Kerala on Tuesday witnessed clashes between the combined opposition -- the Congress-led UDF, CPI(M)-led Left members -- and the ruling BJP councillors over the naming of an upcoming skill development centre for children with intellectual disabilities after the RSS ideologue K.B. Hedgewar. The municipality chairperson claimed that she was physically assaulted.

The Palakkad Municipality has been governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2015.

This issue had been simmering since the foundation stone was laid on April 11.

Since then, time and again, there have been skirmishes between the ruling BJP and the opposition councillors.

But on Tuesday, when the council meeting started, the entire opposition councillors held placards, saying ‘Who is this Hedgewar?’.

The chairperson, Pramila Sashidharan, however, said there would be no change in the name. She said the name has already been given to the skill centre being built using Rs 1.5 crore fund from the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund of a private company.

The opposition rose in protest, and it was a free-for-all between the combined opposition councillors and the ruling BJP members.

Very soon, the police also came in, and so did others whom the opposition members allege were the "goons of the BJP/RSS who were sitting in the visitors’ gallery".

Later, Sashidharan was moved to her room, and here too, the two sides indulged in skirmishes.

“My hair was pulled by the opposition councillors... my arms were held...they hurt me physically... I am just waiting to go to the hospital to get the treatment, but I am unable to move out,” said Sashidharan, who was surrounded and heckled by the protesters.

Incidentally, the Congress councillors have the full backing of the newly elected Palakkad MLA and state Youth Congress President Rahul Mamkootathil.

He has said earlier, “To our knowledge, Hedgewar is someone who tried to divide the nation; he is the founder of RSS. When you build a building on land owned by the municipality of Palakkad and not by any political groups, why would it be named after an RSS leader?”

However, senior BJP leader and councillor Sivarajan made it very clear that the decision will not be reversed and the name will stay.

“We will not change the name at all,” said Sivarajan.

Incidentally, the centre is coming up on 30 cents of land owned by Palakkad Municipality.

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