THE winter session of Kerala assembly began on a stormy note on November 30 with the Left Democratic Front stepping up attack on the government, seeking excise minister K Babu’s resignation in the bar bribery scam, within and outside of the House. The CPI(M)-led opposition raised the banner of protest as soon as the 11-day session began. The moment Speaker N Sakthan invited Babu to reply to a question, the entire opposition was on its feet. The opposition kept up its protest every time Babu rose to reply to supplementary questions.

TENS and thousands of white clad young men and women have been marching on each street of Kerala to reach the people in every nook and corner to spread the message to re-build the new Kerala. Two jathas named as Secular March started from the two ends of the state and are scheduled to culminate in a massive youth rally at Ernakulam on December 5.

In the backdrop of all communal and casteist forces ganging up with an evil design to destroy the secular fabric of Kerala society, the main demand raised by the Secular March is not to turn Kerala into a lunatic asylum.

THE CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) has won elections to the mayoral post in five of the six corporations in Kerala. Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kozhikode, Thrissur and Kannur are the corporations where LDF has won, while Congress won the mayoral post in Kochi Corporation. All five mayors of LDF are from CPI(M). LDF won the chairperson's post in 43 of 86 municipalities in the state. UDF won in 38 municipalities, and BJP and the Development Front bagged one each.

IN a major setback to the UDF government just before the three-tier panchayat elections in the state, a special anti-corruption court on October 29 ordered further investigation into allegations that finance minister K M Mani took Rs 25 lakh bribe in two installments from office-bearers of the Kerala Bar Hotels Association (KBHA). Judge John K Illikkadan observed that there was sufficient material for making out a prima facie case against Mani and directed investigating officer R Sukesan to conduct further probe.

THE efforts of the Hindu fundamentalist forces to do cultural policing in the name of cow-protection faced a major setback on in Delhi after Kerala House's staff-run restaurant, Smrudhi, re-introduced beef on their menu.
The Delhi Police, which acted on the basis of 'information received over phone that cow meat is served in the restaurant' and sent a team to raid the place was caught on the wrong foot for dancing to the tune of fundamentalist forces.