Thiruvananthapuram | On the day new Keralam Governor Om Prakash Mathur assumed office, student organisations affiliated with the LDF on Friday took out a protest march to Lok Bhavan here, demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR row, officials said.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Keralam Assembly, Pinarayi Vijayan, inaugurated the march.

Left party leaders were absent from Mathur's swearing-in ceremony at Lok Bhavan in the afternoon.

Police said the protest march began at 3 pm, with activists from the SFI, AISF, KSC(M), SSAI and AIDSO participating.

CPI leader and MLA K Rajan led the march, which police stopped before it could reach Lok Bhavan, officials said.

Addressing the gathering later, Vijayan urged youngsters to come forward to protect democracy from the clutches of the BJP-led government.

He alleged that the Centre was shielding Gyanesh Kumar despite allegations of irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

He said the protest would continue until Kumar was removed as chief election commissioner.

Rajan and other student leaders addressed the gathering as well.