Kerala Congress (M) rebel MLA P C George resigns from assembly

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Congress (M) rebel MLA P C George today resigned his Assembly membership, two weeks before the Speaker's verdict is expected on a petition by the party seeking his disqualification for 'anti-party' activities.

George, who has been at loggerheads with his party supremo K M Mani and ruling Congress-led UDF for the past one year, tendered his resignation letter to Speaker N Sakthan.

A decision on George's resignation would be taken after examining the law on the matter, Sakthan told reporters.

Earlier this month itself, George had stated that he would resign before the start of the next assembly session commencing on November 30, when the Speaker is scheduled to announce the verdict on KCM's disqualification petition.

George's resignation would not have any immediate impact on the stability of the Congress-led UDF government.

The strength of 140-member Assembly would come down to 139 with George quitting the MLA post and that of the KC-M to eight.

Following the demand of KC-M, the third largest partner in the UDF, George was removed from the post of Government Chief Whip in April this year after he openly challenged Mani and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.