Opposition demands Kerala CM Oommen Chandy’s resignation

KOCHI: Kerala, a state with a claim to many firsts, is witnessing an unusual political drama filled with family feuds, sex, betrayal and intrigue. Even by the its standards of the volatile politics, the episode involving actor-turned-politician KB Ganesh Kumar has acquired an almost surreal quality — a father convicted of corruption demanding the resignation of a son accused of torturing his wife.


On All Fools’ Day, Ganesh Kumar, 46, resigned as minister for environment, exposing the vulnerability of the UDF government and the frailty of his family relationships.

For Kerala, the first to achieve total literacy, including highest female literacy, and the first to have a coalition government, this was a dubious first. The Opposition demanded chief minister Chandy’s resignation for not ‘acting on a complaint’ by Yamini Thankachy, Kumar’s wife. Chandy explained that she had not given a written complaint, but acted when he received one on Monday night.

The police complaint forced Kumar to resign. Thankachy met the press earlier that day to allege that her husband had been torturing her and has been having an affair with her friend.

Ganesh Kumar, son of former minister R Balakrishna Pillai who was jailed for corruption, had earlier filed a divorce petition in the family court in Thiruvananthapuram claiming he had been beaten up by his wife. The police have now registered a case under a non-bailable clause against Kumar. It has registered a case against Thankachy, too, based on Kumar’s complaint.

In a country where dynastic politics is the norm, Pillai, the founder of the Kerala Congress (B), said that he will not shed tears over the resignation of his son, revealing the extent of estrangement in Kerala’s sharply polarised coalition politics. Kumar is the lone MLA from the party. “He resigned for Oommen Chandy,” Pillai said.