Kerala postpones launch of anti-drug awareness drive

Kochi, Oct 2: The Kerala government has postponed the launch of its anti-drug awareness campaign which was scheduled on Sunday following the death of CPI(M) politburo member and former party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

Balakrishnan died on Saturday night at a private hospital in Chennai after battling with cancer. His funeral will be held on Monday and the body will be taken to Kannur district on Sunday for the public and party workers to pay homage.

All the ministers, including the Chief Minister will reach Kannur for the funeral, party sources said. "The launch of the anti-drug awareness campaign on October 2, Gandhi Jayanthi day, has now been postponed to October 6," the Chief Minister's Office said.

The anti-drug campaign would be made a continuous process and further procedures would be finalised after evaluating the first phase which extends up to November 1, Chief Minister Pinaray Vijayan had said.

An all-party meeting was convened earlier last week to discuss various aspects of the campaign and to request the support of everyone cutting across politics.

PTI