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A scuffle broke out between the Congress and BJP cadre on Sunday, March 5 in Vadanapally, Thrissur, after senior Congress leader TN Prathapan who is contesting from the Manalur Assembly constituency, staged a protest alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devan was distributing food kits to influence voters. The BJP has fielded KK Aneesh Kumar from the constituency. As the protest escalated the police detained the Congress candidate and released him later.
The protesters claimed to have spotted BJP leader and actor Devan along with others on the upper floor of the warehouse. Subsequently, the Kerala police and the Election Flying Squad discovered food kits in a warehouse and seized them.
According to reports, around 4,000 kits were recovered from a godown linked to Champion Supermarket. The owner, Praveen Jith, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
Speaking to the media, Prathapan alleged that BJP workers had assaulted him and accused the police of inaction. Responding to the allegations, Devan said he was in Thrissur for scheduled programmes and had only stopped at the location to rest before attending a meeting in Vadanappally. He denied any involvement in distributing food kits.
Following the protest, Devan told the media that he had arrived in Thrissur today for various programs, and that his next event was a meeting in Vadanappally. However, before going there, he said he had come to the upper floor of the place to take a rest. “It was TN Prathapan who alleged that I arrived here to distribute the kits, but it's not like that,” he added.
A day earlier, authorities seized kits worth around Rs 900 each from a supermarket in Olari, Thrissur, allegedly meant to be distributed to influencers. The police registered a case naming local BJP leader Radhakrishnan as the primary accused.
Manalur is a constituency that has leaned to the left for the past two elections. This term, LDF fielded former education minister C Raveendranath, and BJP fielded KK Aneesh Kumar.