Congress observes protest prayer meeting

The protest the exclusion of Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy from a function where Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled statue of former CM R Sankar at Kollam, the Congress heading the ruling UDF in Kerala today held a prayer meeting in front of a statue of the late leader here.
The 'prarthana sangamam' (prayer meeting) was held almost at the same time when the Prime Minister unveiled Sankar's statue in Kollam.
Chandy, Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, KPCC President V M Sudheeran were among those who attended the prayer meeting.
Sankar's son Mohan Sankar along with his sister, attended the meeting, boycotting the PM's function.

Speaking on the occasion, Chandy said it was unfortunate that a controversy had been created by the organisers (SNDP) of the function at Kollam, while Sudheeran said SNDP General Secretary Vellapally Natesan had 'insulted' Sankar.
RSP MP, N K Premachandran, representing Kollam in the Lok Sabha, Kollam Mayor Advocate Rajendra Babu and CPI(M) MLA, P K Gurudasan, also boycotted the statue unveiling function.

A controversy had erupted yesterday over the decision of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), an organisation of backward Ezhava community, to exclude Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, from attending the unveiling of Sankar's statue by Modi.
Chandy in a press note had stated that he was "deeply saddened" for keeping away from the function following a request of Natesan.

He had said though he should have been present at the function being attended by the PM and also because Sankar was a former CM and KPCC chief, he was forced to take the decision to stay away, following the organisers' request.
Leaders from different political parties had criticised the decision to revoke the invitation to Chandy.