'I had asked Riyas to inaugurate the bridge’: AM Arif booed at Makkekadavu Bridge inauguration

ALAPPUZHA: Former MP A.M. Arif was booed during the inauguration ceremony of the Makkekadavu Bridge, which connects Kottayam and Alappuzha districts. The heckling erupted while he was speaking about the inauguration. Expressing his displeasure, Arif asked those on the stage to maintain decorum.

In his presidential address, Public Works Minister P.K. Basheer had said, “The Almighty has destined this for us. That is why we are inaugurating it.” Arif said he fully agreed with Basheer’s remarks.
Arif said he had earlier asked Minister Mohammed Riyas to inaugurate the bridge, but the inauguration could not take place at the time because a date was not available. He pointed out that only a few minor works remained to be completed on the bridge then. The audience began booing when he said that the inauguration could now take place.

Meanwhile, former Vaikom MLA C.K. Asha publicly expressed her displeasure, alleging that she had been humiliated after being called to the stage. Saying that the microphone had been taken away and she had been summoned to the stage in a manner that humiliated her, Asha walked off the stage.

Meanwhile, as Minister Basheer addressed those on the stage, members of the audience prompted him to acknowledge regional MP K.C. Venugopal, whose name he had omitted. People in the audience began chanting “KC, KC”. Basheer, however, responded that there was no need to acknowledge Venugopal because he was not on the stage.