At least 65,000 left front protesters have gathered in front of the State Secretariat here in one of the largest mobilisations in the history of the State Capital.
A brief spell of rain had sent all of them, including prominent leaders of the left parties who were present on site, scanning the skies for sometime.
The planned indefinite siege to the Secretariat is to press Opposition Left Democratic Front demand for resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy over the solar scam.
Leaders of the front have said they are expecting at least a lakh of volunteers from across the State to reach the State Capital as the siege gets into full swing.
Most of them have taken overnight trains in view of Government directives that checks be mounted on roads to detain carriers running ‘without valid permits’.
Leaders of the front have repeatedly made it clear that the aim was not toppling the State administration but only resignation of the Chief Minister.
They would also not block traffic in Thiruvananthapuram but normal life seems to have already been hit with most establishments on arterial M.G. Road lying closed.
CABINET MEETING
At least 20 companies of paramilitary forces have been mobilised to deal with any situation as hundreds of protesters continue to stream into the city.
The siege will be officially inaugurated in a short while from now with prominent leaders including Prakash Karat, General Secretary, CPM; former prime minister Deve Gowda; and Sudhakar Reddy, Secretary, CPI, expected to attend.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his Cabinet colleagues entered the Secretariat through the heavily guarded and sanitised Cantonment Gate around 8 a.m.
The Chief Minister is currently holding a meeting of the Cabinet.
The Government had refused leave to employees of the Secretariat, who are being picked from several points in city to be escorted by police through the Cantonment Gate.