Setting a good example

Kerala’s transport minister has taken the high moral ground in resigning after an audio clip emerged on TV in which he allegedly indulged in smutty talk with a woman. Such a resignation is rare in Indian politics, but it’s possible to surmise he may be trying to minimise the damage to the state’s coalition government ahead of the April 12 Malappuram byelection. It still takes courage to quit rather than argue endlessly over technicalities which have clearly been raised by such intrusive, keyhole journalism. If the minister had refused to budge, there may have been little ground to demand his resignation, specially as there is no complaint against him and the woman, said to be in conversation with him, could have been part of a honeytrap.

A.K. Saseendran, 71, a five-time MLA elected on an NCP ticket, may have seen enough rough and tumble in politics to know what works in his state, and what doesn’t. He has, however, restored a high moral standard for someone holding public office to step down within hours of the audio clip aired on channel. As an ordinary citizen, he has violated no law in speaking about sex to a woman we can assume to be a consenting adult. There was nothing incriminating in his “loose” talk, which again brings us to the point that he may have been struck down by prurient machinations of a TRP-seeking visual media. His resignation carries no admission of guilt and he must be restored to the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet if the probe also establishes that he is not guilty.