Palakkad, Kerala:
In a shocking protest targeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Congress workers in Kerala’s Palakkad staged a mock funeral, complete with a funeral pyre, a garlanded photograph and rituals resembling cremation ceremonies, before dumping the ashes into a toilet.
Visuals of the protest show a garlanded photograph of Gyanesh Kumar placed beside a funeral pyre. Congress workers performed rituals modelled on Hindu cremation traditions before setting the pyre ablaze.
The protest was organised by the Block Congress Committee near the Stadium Bus Stand in Palakkad town.
The workers reportedly carried a mock funeral bier from the District Congress Committee (DCC) office to the bus stand, where the symbolic cremation was conducted.
What followed was even more controversial. After the pyre was burned, the protesters collected the ashes and poured them into a toilet, in an apparent attempt to further insult the Chief Election Commissioner.
The protest has also brought attention to the Congress party’s position on similar incidents in the past.
Earlier, Congress leaders had strongly criticised the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) for staging a mock funeral of the principal of Government Victoria College in Palakkad.
Now, Congress workers have adopted a similar form of protest, this time targeting the head of India’s Election Commission, a constitutional authority.
