Indra Samaratunga Courtesy The Island

Whilst I am no admirer of the brand of politics practised by the Rajapaksas, I am equally, if not more abhorrent, of the way the ruling coalition has responded to his “pada yathra” which concluded a few days ago.

An event which would have passed into history as another colourful political event, has now emerged as a potential take off point for the adversaries of the present ruling coalition to destabilize the loosely knit partnership.

The claims made by the leading figures of the ruling coalition, and the Rajapaksa antagonists such as Chandrika Kumaratunga, that the crowd participation in the march was minimal were ridiculous; one wonders whether they are physically or politically short sighted. It is impossible to think that the leading TV channels have all doctored their images of massive crowds in the march. Through their futile attempts to disrupt the march by mobilizing the police to harass the marchers and by digging up Municipal grounds , the coalition loyalists only displayed their ‘Mahinda phobia’ they are secretly harbouring .

It is obvious the Joint Opposition that organized the march is highly elated due to dismal failure of the ruling coalition to mobilize their supporters to disrupt the march.