Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP’s “secretariat march” over the Sabarimala issue here on Monday turned violent, prompting police to use water cannon and tear gas to disperse the protesters.
The day also saw the Congress-led UDF take out a march to the state assembly over the same issue.
The BJP and the UDF marched separately, demanding the LDF government’s intervention to end the agitation by their respective leaders for withdrawal of the prohibitory orders around Sabarimala.
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The BJP workers threw stones and hurled chairs at police personnel outside the state secretariat when the latter stopped them from proceeding further.
The party had announced the march as part of intensifying its protests over the Supreme Court’s ruling allowing entry of women into the Sabarimala temple.
The protesters raised slogans demanding the government’s intervention to end the eight-day-old indefinite fast of BJP general secretary A.N. Radhakrishnan.
(PTI)