Opposition seeks Kerala CM’s resignation for protecting minister

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/KOCHI: Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Tuesday sought Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy’s resignation, accusing him of protecting former forest minister K B Ganesh Kumar, who was forced to resign a day earlier following allegations of domestic violence.
Chandy defended himself in the assembly, maintaining he had tried to save Kumar’s marriage. He reiterated that Kumar’s wife, Yamini Thankachi, had neither given him any complaint against her husband nor did he refuse to accept it when she met him on March 6.
"I have acted only in good faith since I was not ready to encourage a split in the family," he said. He said Yamini had not brought any written complaint and he had advised her to give him a chance to settle the issue.
Chandy refuted allegations that he had cheated Yamini. "She herself told me that she had not given the complaint when she met me first. She admitted that she had brought a written complaint but had kept it in the car," he said.
Kumar told the assembly that he had resigned "to uphold dignity and morality".
Deputy opposition leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan accused Chandy of breaching his oath of office and misleading the House by saying that he had not received any complaint from Yamini. "The chief minister refused to accept a complaint that too on domestic violence, which is a non-bailable one," he said.
CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan echoed the demand for the CM’s resignation saying he had "protected a colleague despite realizing he was a wife-basher’’.
Earlier, the CPM members stalled the assembly proceedings from the question hour and demanded a discussion on Kumar’s issue. Speaker G Karthikeyan said the issue can be raised after question hour. The opposition then shouted slogans and the speaker suspended the proceedings 10 minutes after the session began.
Separately, the government appointed a special team led by a woman IPS officer to probe allegations against Kumar.
Police have booked Kumar under IPC’s non-bailable sections following his wife’s complaint of domestic violence. Yamini was also booked on Kumar’s counter-complaint. The police on Tuesday submitted two separate first information reports (FIR) before a local court.
The former minister faces up to three years in prison if convicted.
Yamini was booked for causing grievous hurt and criminal intimidation. If proved, she could be jailed for three years for causing grievous hurt while criminal intimidation could lead to a seven-year sentence.
Though the allegations against Kumar come under the purview of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, the police have not made any recommendations before the court in this regard.
Yamini had produced CDs containing photographs showing injuries she had suffered along with her complaint.