Thiruvananthapuram | Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan on Monday accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of using police force on Congress workers protesting against the BJP-led government at the Centre and alleged that it was done to please Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Satheesan alleged police brutality against protesting Congress activists and said the attack was being done with the knowledge of the State government.

"Why were the police attacking protesters who are agitating against Narendra Modi and the sangh parivar?... Pinarayi Vijayan, who heads the Home Department, is trying to please Modi and BJP by suppressing the voice of the Congress and the UDF," Satheesan said in a statement.

The Congress leader said his party has been organising statewide agitation against the Modi government and the BJP for disqualifying party leader Rahul Gandhi from the Parliament.

He alleged that police assaulted Sajeev Joseph MLA and other senior party leaders at Kannur today during a protest organised by the party.

"The same police attacked our Youth Congress workers at Thiruvananthapuram the other day," Satheesan said.

He said even while the CM, the Ministers and CPI(M) Sate secretary were expressing solidarity with Rahul Gandhi on social media, "the police were brutally suppressing the Congress workers' voice against the Sangh Parivar".

On Saturday, Satheesan had accused the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala and the CM of having a "double agenda" over their statements supporting Gandhi.

The Congress party has been staging widespread protests against the disqualification of Gandhi from his Wayanad Lok Sabha seat.

At various places, the protesters clashed with the police resulting in baton charges injuring many.

Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court on March 23 in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark. A day later, the LS Secretariat in a notification said that his disqualification was effective from the day of his conviction.