Political parties should desist from holding protests violating COVID-19 guidelines : Kerala Tourism Minister

Following a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases Kadakampally Surendran, Kerala tourism minister said that all political parties should desist from holding large-scale protests.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Sunday said that all political parties should desist from holding large-scale protests, saying that it may lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

"In a democracy, opposition and the public have the right to hold protest and demonstrations. But during COVID-19 gatherings of hundreds in the name of protests cannot be allowed. Anyone can hold protest following COVID-19 guidelines," he said.

Surendran's statement comes in the backdrop of a high-level meeting by the state government, where it was decided that the safety precaution in the state capital will be increased, following a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, including an auto driver and bus driver testing positive.

The state tourism minister said that there were instances of protestors involving in confrontation with police.

"Such incidents should be avoided. Seeing all this I doubt that some people who are behind these protests want to make the State Capital like that of Chennai or Mumbai where there is a high number of COVID-19 cases. Such an attitude just to criticise the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government is highly deplorable," he added.

He said that an all-party meeting and meeting of MLAs would be held to discuss the surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state capital.

On Saturday, the highest single-day spike of 127 positive COVID-19 cases was reported in Kerala with 1450 active cases. In Thiruvananthapuram, there are 49 COVID-19 cases and 16853 people are in quarantine including 142 in hospitals.

So far, 111 hotspots across the State have been reported.

ANI report.