Kerala Congress (Joseph) legislator Mons Joseph said in the Assembly that dejected farmers were abandoning plantations in droves (image for representation). | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition staged a walkout protest in the Kerala Legislative Assembly on January 31 (Wednesday), accusing the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of doing little to mitigate the existential crisis plaguing the declining rubber-growing sector in the State. Nevertheless, the treasury benches and the Opposition fleetingly found common ground in holding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government primarily accountable for the waning plantation sector in Kerala. Joint agitation against Centre Before leading his party out of the House, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan signalled that the Opposition would possibly join hands with the ruling front to agitate against the Central government’s refusal to avail itself of protections under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) agreement to seek countervailing anti-dumping measures to protect local rubber production by restricting or banning the import of rubber compound and latex for the next 10 …