Back-to-back attacks on Congress offices in Thiruvananthapuram spark political tensions in Keralam

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The police have stepped up security around key Congress and BJP offices across Keralam. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

A politically fraught atmosphere seemed to prevail in Keralam on Wednesday (September 30, 2026) following back-to-back attacks on Congress offices in Thiruvananthapuram district. 

The latest attacks came against the backdrop of a tense Statewide standoff between Youth Congress activists and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) supporters after Congress workers waved black flags as Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s convoy passed through Kollam district on September 26. 

Congress-BJP friction rose after unidentified persons set fire to Congress’s Anavoor Mandalam Committee office at Paliyode Junction in Neyyattinkara on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, Congress workers who opened the District Congress Committee office near Bakery Junction in Thiruvananthapuram found its window panel shattered by stone-throwing. 

Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, who visited the DCC office, told reporters that “targeting political party offices was alien” to Keralam’s democratic culture. He refused to guess the identity or political alignment of the suspected miscreants. “Attacks on political offices in Keralam have been far and few between. The latest trespasses against Congress offices seem to signal a new and disruptive trend. I am at a loss to understand the purpose of the attacks, which seem to follow a pattern”, he added. 

Mr Chennithala said the police were investigating the attacks. “The UDF government would not brook any attempt to inject violence into politics. Protests are welcome and a democratic right. But expressions of democratic dissent should not backslide into violence or anti-social activity, “ he added. 

The Youth Congress protest against Mr Shah was part of the Congress’s nationwide campaign demanding the exit of Gyanesh Kumar as Chief Election Commissioner following allegations of enabling voter identity fraud and disenfranchising minorities and marginalised sections of society supposedly to “stack the decks” in the BJP’s favour. The protest had provoked the BJP State unit to accuse the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government of wilful security failure. 

Soon, in what appeared to be part of a wave of tit-for-tat protests, BJYM workers waved black flags at the convoys of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, MP, and Mr. Chennithala in Kozhikode on Sunday, leading to street scuffles with Congress workers. 

Similar scenes of street violence unfolded in Kannur district when Congress workers blocked BJYM activists from hurling themselves with black flags in front of Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan’s motorcade.

On Tuesday, BJYM workers blocked Sports Minister O J Janeesh’s vehicle at Aralanmoodu, near Balaramapuram, in Thiruvananthapuram, sparking violence between Congress and BJP workers.

Meanwhile, the police have stepped up security around key Congress and BJP offices across the State.

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