LDF hartal hits normal life in Kerala

Stray incidents of violence today marred the 12-hour strike called by the CPI-M led LDF in Kerala to demand resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy over the solar scam issue even as normal life was badly hit across the state.
A Congress office in Kannur and the office of Congress MLA, M A Waheed at Kazhakootam near here was stoned allegedly by the hartal supporters, police said.
In another stone pelting incident, a bus of Karnataka Road Transport Corporation was damaged in Kozhikode.
Incidents of stone pelting on private vechiles were also reported from different parts of the state, police said.

No one had been injured in any of the incidents, police said, adding "no major untoward incident has been reported from any part of the state".
LDF supporters took out protest demonstrations in different parts of the state as part of the agitation.

All shops, business establishments and markets and educational institutions remained closed. Services in banks and government offices were also badly affected due to the hartal.
Except for a few private vehicles and two-wheelers all modes of transport were off the road, causing inconvenience to passengers who arrived at railway stations and airports unaware of the strike, called by LDF last evening.

Security had been tightened all over the state in view of the hartal, which has been called by the LDF as it stepped up pressure on the Congress-led UDF Government.
The LDF has been on the agitation path for the past two weeks seeking to corner the government over the multi-crore solar panel scam which has brought the Chief Minister's Office under a cloud.
Chandy, who firmly rejected the demand for his resignation, has dismissed the charges against him as 'a political conspiracy'.
The scam pertains to alleged cheating of several persons to the tune of crores of rupees by Saritha Nair and her accomplice Biju Radhakrishnan by offering to get them solar panel solutions. The two have been arrested besides actress Shalu Menon.

They have been charged with luring investors on the promise of getting solar panel solutions by stating that they had high-level connections in the government.
The scam took a political turn with the arrest of one of Chandy's close personal aides, who has alleged links with the accused. Two other employees in his personal staff have also been removed in connection with the scam.