Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday told Assembly that the government was ready to convene an all-party meeting to avoid frequent hartals in the state.
During the question hour, he said there were deliberate attempts from certain quarters to obstruct the forward march of the state in development activities.
Indirectly referring to the Sangh Parivar, he said the forces which had absolutely no role in the state’s development were resorting to such actions.
Legislators raised questions regarding the widespread violence and loss to property during the back to back hartals called by Sabarimala Karma Samithi and Sangh Parivar outfits.
After the hartal called by the Samithi on January 3, police arrested 4162 people in 772 cases registered in connection with the widespread violence.
Since November, 64 cases of damage to property have been registered over which 1,171 of 5,394 troublemakers landed in police custody.
He said there was a move to trigger communal riots in Manjeshwaram under the garb of hartal. The forces which had benefited from such riots in other parts of the country were experimenting the same formula here.
He said the government was prepared to look into the anti-hartal bill of the previous UDF Government introduced in the House and sent to the select committee in 2015.
The government is open to discussions with all political parties, he said.
