Pinarayi Vijayan a weak Chief Minister: Ramesh Chennithala

Thrissur: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala on Thursday said the developments related to the resignation of Thomas Chandy as Transport Minister showed that Pinarayi Vijayan was a weak Chief Minister.

Talking a jibe at the LDF over the issue of CPI ministers skipping the Cabinet meet held Wednesday morning, Chennithala said the CPI ministers who lost trust in the chief minister should not continue in the ministry.

Chennithala also said CPI ministers boycotting the cabinet meet was the first such incident in the history of the state, which was facing a deep "administrative crisis."

Chennithala, who is leading a 'padayatra' from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram to highlight the "failures" of LDF government in the State and the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, told reporters here that Wednesday's incident had proved that Vijayan was a "weak" Chief Minister.

The Congress leader also wanted to know from the chief minister whether it was Chandy's alleged financial dealings with the CPI-M that forced him to protect Chandy despite strong opposition from others.

Thomas Chandy, a businessman-turned politician, had come under attack from the UDF and BJP as allegations surfaced that his company had violated rules to construct a parking area and a road through a paddy field to his Lake Palace resort in Alappuzha district.

In an apparent move to force Chandy to stept down, CPI ministers E Chandrasekharan, V S Sunil Kumar, K Raju and P Thilothaman did not attend the cabinet meeting. The ministers later said the move was as per a party directive asking them "not to attend the cabinet meet if Chandy took part."

Chandy, who was facing encroachment charges, resigned after the cabinet meeting Wednesday.