Thiruvananthapuram: CPI-M on Monday demanded ouster of Finance Minister K M Mani from the post in the view of the bribery allegations against him.
Talking at a press conference here, party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishanan said Mani remaining in the minister post was an insult to the legal system in the country.
“Chief Minister Oommen Chandy should be ready to remove Mani from the cabinet. The Governor should step in if Chandy is not ready to do that,” Kodiyeri said adding that a lie-detector test should be conducted on the Kerala Congress (M) supremo.
“The LDF will launch intense protest programmes seeking his ouster. A meeting of the Front has been convened on May 31 to discuss the matter.”
The Kerala Congress (M) is clinging to the UDF to avoid its leaders being jailed, Kodiyeri said.
Asked about Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan’s stand on Malabar cements case, Kodiyeri said it was not different from that of the party’s.
“During the time of the LDF government, four Vigilance case were registered in connection with the Malabar Cements corruption. When the UDF came into powere, the then Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan decided hand over the cases to the CBI. But that was later sabotaged. The CPI-M is still in demand of a CBI investigation into those cases,” he said.