Day after HC prod, tainted Mani resigns as Kerala FM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala finance minister K M Mani was forced to resign on Tuesday a day after the high court implied he had no right to continue until he was exonerated from bribery charges.
Mani had earlier rubbished demands for his resignation after allegations first surfaced last year that he was allegedly been bribed to defer decision on closure of bars other than those attached to five-star hotels.
"(As) law minister (the additional portfolio he held), I wanted to be the first to uphold the law," Mani said while announcing his resignation.
The minister’s opponents had seized upon the high court’s remarks and targeted Mani, who is Kerala’s longest serving MLA and has never lost an assembly election. He has been a minister a record 13 times.
The ruling Congress had always seen Mani as a liability but chief minister Oommen Chandy’s support ensured his continuation.
The high court’s comments came after the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF)’s poor showing in the local body polls six months ahead of the next assembly elections.
This prompted state Congress president V M Sudheeran and home minister Ramesh Chennithala to make it clear to Chandy that they wanted Mani’s exit.
Mani had no option but to quit when other UDF constituents, including the Muslim League, followed suit.
Chandy’s insisted Mani resigned on his own. "Neither the UDF nor I demanded his resignation. We do not believe that Mani erred," he said.
Mani had reportedly dug in his heels before quitting. He even contemplated forcing his nine MLAs of the Kerala Congress (M), the third biggest segment in the UDF, to quit to bring down the government.
He leaned on his party leaders, including water resources minister P J Joseph, to resign along with him.
The KC-(M)’s steering committee’s acrimonious meeting went on for hours but Joseph and his faction remained adamant that Mani alone should pay the price.
"There was suggestion that I should also resign. I did not resign since we felt it irrelevant," Joseph said.
When Mani announced his resignation, his confidant and government chief whip Thomas Unniyadan too put in his papers.
Though pushed to a corner, it is unlikely that Mani will adopt a confrontational stance with the UDF.
His first priority would be to ensure that the bribery case against him, currently in the investigation stage, does not ruin his comeback chances.
Chandy said Mani was a political powerhouse of the UDF and expected him to disprove all allegations against him.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said Mani's resignation was not enough. "The UDF government has no right to continue in office. The government should resign."