Kozhikode: Tension flared in Vadakara on Tuesday afternoon after DYFI workers waylaid the car of Vadakara MP and KPCC working president Shafi Parambil, sparking a heated roadside exchange.

Shafi was returning from a couple of programmes in his constituency when his car was stopped near Vadakara Town Hall by the DYFI workers.

They accused him of shielding Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, facing multiple allegations of sexual harassment from women and a transwoman, and also trying to steal the credit for the National Highway 66 work, which is nearing completion.

Videos from the spot showed DYFI activists shouting 'liar, resign and go,' while one worker could be heard using abusive words.

A visibly angry Shafi immediately stepped out of the car and got into a war of words with the protesters, even as the police tried to restrain the MP and push him inside his vehicle. "If you want to protest, go ahead, that is your right. But you cannot stand here and call me a dog and bitch. Do you think I'll run away from Vadakara because of that? No, I won’t," Shafi said.

He also reminded the protesters that Congress had already suspended Mamkootathil from the primary membership of the party, and he had resigned as the state president of the Youth Congress.

When the protesters demanded Shafi's resignation, he asked the protesters if he would take up the demand with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, whose political secretary, P Sasi, faced a sexual harassment allegation from a DYFI woman leader.

The stand-off, which involved pushing and shoving, lasted nearly five minutes before police dispersed the crowd.

The Kozhikode District Committee of the DYFI later said in a statement that the protest turned ugly because Shafi tried to put up a show, and his actions were unbecoming of a people's representative.

It repeated the allegations that Shafi was trying to steal the credit for the six-laning of the NH 66, "a lost cause" revived and made into a reality by the LDF government, it said.

It accused Shafi of trying to "stage shows" to project himself as a people’s representative while ignoring the role of the LDF government in the highway project.

People will see through this show by Shafi, it said in the statement. The DYFI also demanded that there must be protests against his alleged "role in shielding the greatest anti-woman criminal Kerala has ever seen".

Shafi, who has been in the constituency for the past two days attending local functions, insisted he will not be intimidated by the protests.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan said that staged agitations against Shafi were nothing but a conspiracy to divert public attention from the serious allegations that Pinarayi Vijayan's government and the CPM are trapped in. The Congress and the UDF also know how to respond on the same coin, he said. "If the CPM continues its cheap drama against Shafi, neither the Chief Minister, nor the ministers, nor the CPM representatives, nor the LDF leaders accused in sexual offence cases will be able to walk on the streets," he said.

Later in the evening, the United Democratic Youth Front (UDYF), led by Youth Congress leader Dulkhifil V P, staged a roadblock in Vadakara in retaliation for the DYFI's protest against Shafi Parambil. The incident occurred as the MP was returning from an Onam event for children with disabilities, organised by Vadakara MLA K K Rema.