Kerala’s Congress Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is using every platform he gets to defend tainted Finance Minister KM Mani of the Kerala Congress (M) even when several senior leaders in his own party, its youth outfit Youth Congress and the ruling front are arguing that Mani, accused of taking Rs 1 crore as bribe from bar owners and “selling” Budget proposals, should have resigned long back.
Just over 12 hours after he claimed at a function in Pala that the entire Congress party was solidly behind Mani, something several other Congress leaders disputed, Chandy said in Kottayam on Sunday that there was no situation in Kerala that warranted the resignation of Mani, chairman of the KC(M).
Chandy’s defence of Mani came in response to a statement made by Government Chief Whip PC George, who is also vice-chairman of the KC(M), that the Finance Minister should have resigned immediately after the charge of taking bribe from bar owners was leveled against him and that this would have given him the opportunity to return to the Cabinet by proving his innocence.
Chandy claimed that George himself was a member of the sub-committee of the Congress-led ruling UDF which had concluded that there was no need for Mani to resign in the context of the bribery scam. Chandy also said that the statements given (by witnesses in the Vigilance case against Mani in bribery case) so far were in favour of Mani.
State Congress spokesman Ajay Tharayil had opposed Mani’s continuance as Finance Minister while another spokesman Pandalam Sudhakaran had said that Mani should take a break now. Kerala’s Youth Congress vice-president CR Mahesh had said on Saturday that Mani should have resigned as Minister long ago.
The KC(M), a Church-backed party upholding the interests of cash crop farmers, has nine MlAs in the 140-member State Assembly where the ruling UDF has only 74 MlAs, just four above the halfway mark. Chandy’s critics point out Mani’s support is crucial for the survival of the Government and that is why he is defending Mani at the risk of muddying his own reputation.