Kerala CM can stay back at Cliff House if he is afraid of black flags: Congress MLA Shafi Parambil

Notably, Opposition parties have stepped up their protest against the government over the cess slapped on fuel in the state.

Reacting to the arrests, Youth Congress state president and legislator Shafi Parambil said if Vijayan is afraid of ‘black flags’, he can stay back at Cliff House (the official residence of the chief minister), or he should bring down the tax burden imposed on the people.

The Congress legislator said, “Congress workers are being put under illegal preventive arrest along all the roads travelled by the King (referring to Vijayan). On Sunday, the police prevented the Youth Congress from holding a party convention at Perumbavoor in Ernakulam and took several persons into custody. On Monday, many of the Youth Congress leaders in Palakkad were nabbed from their houses in the early morning. But we will continue to black flag the chief minister.”

In July-August last year, scores of Opposition workers were taken into preventive custody to ostensibly prevent them from greeting Vijayan with black flags. At public functions attended by Vijayan, the police had then forced people to remove black-coloured masks fearing that they would be used to waive at the chief minister. Then, Vijayan was facing Opposition agitation demanding his resignation over allegations in the gold smuggling scandal.

The Congress had released a video dating back to 2013, in which Vijayan, then CPI(M) state secretary, could be seen justifying black-flagging former chief minister Oommen Chandy, as part of the Left’s protest in the solar scandal. Vijayan had then said, “Is showing a black flag a criminal offence?”