The protesting women tea plantation workers had booed away politicans and unionists who had come to express solidarity.
In a show of solidarity with thousands of women tea estate workers who have been protesting in Munnar, Kerala's opposition leader VS Achuthanandan joined them in a show of solidarity.
The presence of the 91-year-old veteran at the protest was fraught with political significance. Over the three days that the women have been protesting, they have booed away several leaders from the Congress and even Mr Achuthanandan's CPI (M), saying they did not want to associate their protest with any political outfits or unions.
The women have been protesting, angered by a 10 per cent bonus they got from the Kanan Devan Hills Plantations (KHDP). "We want 20 per cent bonus and our daily wages to be increased to Rs 500," said a protestor. The women are presently paid Rs 230 as daily wage.
KHDP, which owns nearly 70 per cent of the tea plantations in Munnar, has claimed that the bonus had been reduced because of severe losses that the company has been facing during the crisis period which has engulfed tea plantation workers in southern India.
"Our workers have been loyal to us since generations. We suspect these protests as the handiwork of some external forces who are trying to sabotage us," the KDHP management had told NDTV.