Thiruvananthpauram : Minister Antony Raju described the incident at Mthalapozhi of crowd stopping ministers in their way, as a political conspiracy. What occurred was deliberate attempt to create conflict, the minister said.
Ministers who arrived to coordinate rescue efforts were blocked by Congress workers who came from outside. Those shouting aloud were the ones trying to incite trouble, the minister said.
Soon as ministers learnt of the accident, they halted adalat and headed to the scene. There were more than a hundred persons gathered when I arrived. Of them, four persons including women, spoke in confrontational tone. They were neither natives nor relatives of the victims. Three were : Mahila Congress District President Jolly Pathrose, another woman who contested and lost on Congress election ticket and Youth Congress Mandalam President Kiran David. Had the ministers not observed restraint, the result would have been clashes, the minister said.
Context : A fishing boat caught in stormy weather overturned at Muthalapozhi estuary on Monday leaving one dead and three others missing.
