Alappuzha, November 15 : Thomas Chandy’s resignation as transport minister on Wednesday might well have brought to an end the raging debate about the propriety of his continuance as minister amidst allegations of encroachment on land and backwaters against him.
But, Chandy’s comments shortly after he put in his papers has all but made sure that the hue and cry over chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s alleged indulgent attitude towards him, despite the Alappuzha district collector confirming the minister’s land grab, will keep smouldering.
Speaking to reporters after tendering his resignation, Chandy categorically stated that he himself had expressed willingness to step down and that the chief minister did not seek his resignation.
Hinting that he still enjoyed the chief minister’s confidence, the NCP strongman asserted that Mr. Vijayan had assured him that the minister’s chair would be left vacant for him and that he would re-inducted into the cabinet should he obtain a favourable verdict from the apex court.
Pleading his innocence on the charges of land grab against him, Chandy said that he decided to step down owing to the adverse observations against him the other day by the Kerala high court and the tough stand taken by the CPI against him.
He came down on the CPI for the party’s ministers keeping away from the cabinet meeting earlier in the day reportedly in protest against his continuance in the LDF cabinet, charging that the CPI ministers failed to adhere to coalition etiquette.
Thomas Chandy is the third minister of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led cabinet to step down in the wake of a controversy.
The LDF government, however, had been able to give a positive spin to the previous two ministerial resignations, of E P Jayarajan and A K Saseendran, pointing out that they stepped down summarily in the wake of allegations against them as opposed to the ministers of the previous UDF government who had stubbornly clung to their chairs despite grave allegations of corruption having surfaced against them.
However, there is no doubt that LDF government and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan forfeited all that goodwill by letting the Thomas Chandy issue fester for a long time and going soft on him despite the collector’s report confirming the veracity of the charges against him.
