Reeling under turtle trolling, BJP gets Union govt to shut protest-hit Kumbla toll plaza

Kasaragod: Twenty-two days after the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) began collecting toll on the newly built six-lane NH 66 at Kumbla, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways ordered its closure on Tuesday.

The toll plaza at Arikady -- the first on NH 66 in Kerala -- had triggered widespread protests from the day toll collection began on January 12. On the second day itself, an action committee led by Manjeshwar MLA A K M Ashraf launched an indefinite protest at the plaza. Except for the BJP, all major political parties joined the agitation.

On the night of January 14, hundreds of protesters converged at Arikady and vandalised the toll plaza, forcing authorities to suspend operations temporarily. The BJP, too, publicly opposed the toll plaza after the violent protest, pointing out that it was located just 22 km from the Talapady toll plaza on the same highway, well short of the mandatory 60-km distance prescribed under tolling norms.

NHAI decided to levy a user fee at Kumbla after the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) completed its 39-km Talapady-Chengala stretch of NH 66. However, as per rules, the toll plaza was supposed to come up at Chalingal, on the Chengala-Nileshwar stretch, which is still under development by Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL).

Action Committee leader Ashraf Karla, who moved the high court against the toll plaza, said Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's letter reached the toll plaza around 2 pm on Tuesday, and NHAI wound up toll collection at 6 pm. At 6.15 pm, BJP leader K Surendran posted a message thanking Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on behalf of the people of Manjeshwar. "The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to shut down the toll collection centre at Arikady in the Manjeshwar constituency. On behalf of the people of Manjeshwar, gratitude is extended to Mr Nitin Gadkari and Mr Narendra Modi," he wrote.

Later in the evening, BJP workers led by district president M L Ashwini took out a celebratory march in Kumbla town to mark the withdrawal of toll collection. Ashwini said she was informed of the decision by BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The development came as a much-needed relief for the BJP, which had been facing sustained trolling on social media after the Union Budget failed to accommodate any of Kerala's demands, including AIIMS and high-speed rail corridor.

In a bid to take credit for the closure of the toll plaza, Ashwini also shared a letter she wrote to the NHAI regional director in Thiruvananthapuram in May 2025, opposing the proposed toll plaza at Kumbla. That the letter failed to prevent toll collection from beginning in January appeared to have been quietly glossed over.

Manjeshwar MLA A K M Ashraf, however, had frequently criticised the BJP for not raising the issue with the Union government when other parties were fighting it on the streets and in court. Last week, the Kerala High Court questioned NHAI on how toll collection could begin when the mandated 60-km stretch had not been completed in Kasaragod. Despite this, a senior BJP leader had publicly defended the toll plaza at Kumbla, citing exceptions in the rules.

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is likely to field Ashraf again from Manjeshwar. With Surendran's heightened activity in the constituency over the past two weeks, it is almost certain that he, too, will contest again. In 2016, Surendran famously lost to the late P B Abdul Razak by 89 votes. In 2021, he lost to Ashraf by 745 votes.

The BJP sees Manjeshwar as winnable terrain, but Ashraf had already tilled the political ground by leading a mass movement against the toll plaza. For Surendran, the closure of the toll plaza thus became a precondition to return to Manjeshwar and seek the people's mandate.

Under Surendran's Facebook post, a user named Vishwanath G commented: "In the upcoming election, if the BJP wins, the toll plaza will be removed permanently. Otherwise, the toll collection will start again. This time, the people will decide. Once the BJP wins the Manjeshwar seat, all central government facilities and support will be available." It was unclear whether the remark was intended as sarcasm or as an endorsement of 'KS'. Either way, it triggered a wave of amusement, with other users responding with open laughter.