Kattangal: A dispute has erupted between the Congress and the CPM over the painting of the NIELIT bus stop near the NIT ground, where the State School Athletics Meet is currently underway. Police eventually intervened and instructed both sides to temporarily halt the painting.

The bus stop, which had been in a dilapidated and unclean state, was cleaned and painted in the pattern of the tricolor flag on Sunday morning, led by Congress workers. Later that night, CPM workers arrived and painted over the newly applied colors with red paint.

This escalated the dispute, and Kunnamangalam police arrived, instructing both factions to disperse. The situation nearly turned violent. Congress workers claimed they cleaned and painted the bus stop as part of an initiative to clean the area surrounding the sports meet venue.

The opposing faction (CPM) stated that they painted over it because a bus stop owned by the panchayat was being colored like a party office, using party flag colors.

This is not the first such incident; earlier, bus stops in areas like Chathamangalam and near the Registrar's office were painted with party colors and had party names written on them, which also sparked controversy. The police stated that both factions have been summoned for discussions regarding the incident.