Kerala’s tainted Finance and law Minister KM Mani, accused of taking Rs1 crore as bribe from liquor barons, ran out of options on Monday as pressure to step down mounted on him from his own party, the ruling coalition and the Opposition after the High Court, while ratifying a lower court order for further probe against him, said he could decide on quitting as per his conscience.
Sources said Mani might resign on Tuesday. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was likely to ask him to step down if he refused to vacate the position himself, according to top sources in the Congress-led ruling UDF. But Mani looked extremely defiant when he said that a decision would be taken only at a meeting of his party, Kerala Congress (M), on Tuesday.
“Our party is meeting tomorrow. Discussions will be held in that meeting. I will talk to you after that. There is a huge conspiracy behind all this. I know about it. Everything will come out,” he told newsmen outside his daughter’s villa at Thripunithura near Kochi on Monday. He said he would be forced to “disclose many things” (about those who had conspired against him).
At the same time, State capital Thiruvananthapuram witnessed dramatic developments and hectic discussions with leader after leader of the UDF demanding Mani’s resignation. The Opposition took to the streets with intense protests demanding Mani’s resignation and burning his effigies. The CPI(M) wanted the Chief Minister also to step down for protecting Mani so far.
As demand for Mani’s resignation intensified within his own party, the Congress Chief Minister said a decision would be taken after discussions in the UDF on Tuesday. However, when asked whether Mani had expressed willingness to quit, Chandy posed a counter-question, “For that, who has asked him (to resign)IJ” giving out a feeling that Mani could be protected further.
“There is no option left for Mani after today’s court observation. If he had resigned earlier, the UDF wouldn’t have suffered such a debacle in the just-concluded civic poll. Why should we bear this burdenIJ” asked State Congress’s vice-president VD Satheesan even as reports from Delhi said that the Congress high command also wanted the FM to quit.