The Anti-Brewery Agitation Council at Elappully has accused the Elappully grama panchayat governing council of engaging in “vote bank politics” regarding a proposed brewery. P.A. Pouran, chairperson, and Pudussery Sreenivasan, general convener of the agitation council, stated on Saturday in Palakkad that panchayat members are allegedly attempting to destabilise the ongoing protest against the brewery. They further claimed that the panchayat board is trying to weaken the agitation by disregarding interventions from Congress district and state leaders, and by “trying to brand the anti-brewery agitation as an anti-liquor protest.” Consequently, the Agitation Council announced it would not cooperate with a protest scheduled for Monday at Elappully, which is to be led by the panchayat board.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/elappully-panchayat-accused-of-playing-vote-bank-politics/article70125759.ece