Thiruvananthapuram: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday said the resignation of its leader Thomas Chandy as the Transport Minister was to safeguard the reputation of the ruling LDF government.
Talking at a press conference here, NCP state President, T.P. Peethambaran Master said Chandy resigned following Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s direction.
“The NCP has not put forth any condition for the resignation of Thomas Chandy. We were asked by the national leadership to accept what the Chief Minister directs. We have been informed that the CM will handle the Transport ministry,” Peethambaran Master said.
“Thomas Chandy is not a culprit. The Chief Minister too believes so. Either of the NCP MLAs will be reinducted to the Cabinet once they come clean of the allegations,” he added.
Thomas Chandy, a businessman turned politician whose resort company has encroached on government land, resigned on Wednesday.
Chandy resigned a day after the High Court dismissed his petition challenging a report of the Alappuzha district collector on the encroachments by Lake Palace resort, a company in which he has a stake.
Chandy is the third minister in the Vijayan cabinet to resign after the Left Democratic Front government came to power in May 2016.
A.K. Saseendran of the NCP had resigned after an audio clip with a woman went viral and E.P. Jayarajan (CPI-M) quit on nepotism charges.
Chandy, a three-time MLA of the NCP, had been inducted into the cabinet eight months ago following the resignation of A.K. Saseendran.
The NCP had only two members on the legislative assembly.
The resignation letter was handed over to the chief minister by Peethambaran Master.