The United Democratic Front in Kerala has decided to stop their crowd protests against the government considering the critical COVID-19 situation in Kerala. The Congress party and other UDF allies have been protesting ever since the Kerala gold smuggling case surfaced. As one of the accused Swapna Suresh in the case was linked to the state Information Technology department and she had close connections with Chief Minister's former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar, the opposition had been protesting in the streets seeking resignation of CM.
The protests intensified after Kerala Higher Education Minister KT Jaleel was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate and National Investigation Agency over his alleged linkage KT the case.
Hundreds of congress workers including from the youth organisations affiliated to the party have been gathering on the streets to stage protests against the government for the last many weeks.
There were reports that many of the protestors had tested positive for COVID-19. Kerala Student Union (KSU), the student organisation of Congress, state President KM Abhijith who took part in the protests had also tested positive for coronavirus.
For the last few days Kerala has been witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases, where the health department has asked for extra vigilance from the public.
On Monday after the UDF meeting, the alliance decided to continue protest, but will avoid crowded protests in public places. They will express their protests in press meets and other modes that follow COVID-19 protocols.
The government had many times come down on opposition parties on irresponsibility in protests at the time of COVOD 19. When cases increased the government had said that many participating in protest had turned positive.
When the KSU president turned positive, it created a huge controversy as he had his name and phone number wrong with the health department. Pothencode Panchayat had also given a complaint against him over this.