THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid sporadic bursts of Diwali crackers across the State, Finance Minister K M Mani announced his resignation from the Chandy Ministry but colleague and Water Resources Minister P J Joseph stayed put, refusing to quit along with the party chairman.
Adding a bit of drama, Government chief whip Thomas Unniyadan, a protégé of Mr Mani, also stepped down.
Mr Mani’s resignation was handed to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at Cliff House by nephew Roshy Augustine, MLA, and Mr Joseph M Puthussery.
The Vigilance probe against Mr Mani was the outcome of graft allegations following the closure of bar hotels and Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan’s formal plaint to Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, who forwarded it to Vigilance director Vinson M Paul.
The Joseph group leaders kept away from the high-profile resignation announcement by Mr Mani at his official residence, exposing the widening rift in the nine-member Kerala Congress (M) legislature party. Mr Joseph announced he would not be the next Finance Minister.
A beaming Mr Mani remarked that as the Law Minister his resignation signalled his highest respect for the legal system.
“Also I offer unconditional support to the UDF”, said Mr Mani, adding that he had voluntarily resigned after getting his party’s nod.
Top sources in the state's legal team confirmed to Deccan Chronicle that Mr Mani would challenge the single bench order at the Supreme Court and seek to quash the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court order directing the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to conduct a further probe.
He would file a special leave petition at the apex court after Diwali recess on November 16.
Since the plea before the single bench was in the nature of Original Petition Criminal, Mr Mani cannot challenge the order before a division bench of the High Court, sources said.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who met the media along with UDF convener P P Thankachan, was at pains to clarify that neither he nor the UDF had pressurised Mr Mani to resign. But his resignation was an exemplary model, the UDF would continue to receive his services and that Mr Mani would be back soon, proving his innocence.
“The UDF stand, then and now, is that Mr Mani is not guilty of allegations raised against him”, said Mr Chandy.
Meanwhile, Mani confidante Joy Abraham, MP, told DC that it is for Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to decide the replacement for Mr Mani as the Finance and Law Minister.
“There is but a brief interval between now and March 1, when the Assembly election notification is expected. So we are not in tearing hurry to fill the vacancy left by our leader”, he said.
The finance minister's exit became inevitable on Monday after Justice Kemal Pasha posed whether a fair probe into the bargate was possible with Mr Mani remaining in office.
It was on October 31 last year that Kerala Bar Hotel Owners Association working president Biju Ramesh unfolded the yearlong dramatic events, alleging during a channel discussion that Mr Mani had pocketed '1 crore in return for an assurance to reopen bars.
In a paradox in the State politics, former govern-ment Chief Whip P.C. George, a lifelong arch foe of Mr Mani, quit his membership of the Assembly, though to pre-empt his disqualification for anti-party activities.
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