Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha ( BJYM) took out a march to the District Collectorate here on Monday demanding the resignation of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in the wake of the allegations in the bar bribery scam case.
Water cannons and tear-gas shells were used against the protesters when they tried to break the police cordon and barge into the civil station premises in the morning.
The spraying of the water began when the BJYM State president P. Sudheer was mid-way through his inaugural address. The high-velocity stream of water sprayed on the agitators saw many of them sustaining minor injuries. A few of them were admitted to the Government Beach hospital later.
Mr. Sudheer said that the UDF government had no right to continue in power as the entire Ministry was involved in corruption. Initially allegations were raised against the Finance Minister K.M. Mani.
But after the audio clips of the conversation between the ruling party members and the bar owners came to light it has been revealed that several Ministers were involved in the case.
This would be an insult to democracy if Mr. Mani was allowed to present the Budget in the Assembly, he said.
Mr. Sudheer also accused the main opposition party, the CPI(M), of having an unholy alliance with the ruling UDF on the bar bribery scam. Usually it was the opposition parties that took to the streets on corruption charges against the ruling party. But they were remaining silent now, he added.
A huge scam involving the National Games was also brewing up in the State.
The government should bring out a white paper on how the entire amount of Rs. 611 crore was spent on the ongoing event, the BJYM leader said.
