Thrissur: Within a span of a couple of hours on Tuesday, the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) and the opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) called for hartals in two Assembly constituencies in Thrissur district on Wednesday over separate incidents.
While LDF called for in Irinjalakuda Assembly constituency in protest against police action on CPM activists who tried to block Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's car, UDF announced the hartal in Kodungallur constituency after Congress MLA T.N. Prathapan's car was pelted with stones at Mala in Thrissur. The MLA escaped without suffering any injuries in the stone pelting.
In Irinjalakuda, the police resorted to lathi-charge against the CPM workers who tried to block CM Chandy's car and wave black flags at him. Around 20 party workers, including senior leader K. Divakaran and area secretary Ullas Kadackad suffered injuries in the lathi-charge.
Police also burst tear gas to disperse the protesters. Meanwhile, BJP activists waved black flags at Chandy.
The chief minister was at Irinjalakkuda to unveil a statue of Mahatma Gandhi. The programme went on smoothly after the ruckus.
The CPM staged the protest as part of its decision to boycott CM Chandy for his alleged involvement in corruption cases.