KM Mani on his way out

The resignation of Kerala Finance Minister KM from the Oommen Chandy government seemed inevitable on Monday following a High Court nod to continue the investigation against him in the ‘bar bribery’ scandal and senior leaders of the Congress-led United Democratic Front mounted pressure for his ouster.

Mani, who had for the last one year been stonewalling the demand from the Opposition to step down, told the media in Kochi that a decision would be announced on Tuesday after a meeting of the parliamentary board of his Kerala Congress (Mani) party which is the third largest partner in the UDF government.

Chief Minister Chandy has called a meeting of the top leaders of the UDF for Tuesday. He told the media in Thiruvananthapuram that a decision would be taken at the meeting.

A single bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday rejected a government appeal to stay a Vigilance Special Court order to continue the investigation into the bribery accusation against Mani, 82, who is also Chairman of the empowered committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax.

Justice Kamal Pasha, allowing further investigation into the scandal, remarked that Caesar’s wife should also be above suspicion and that the question of quitting the Cabinet was up to Mani’s conscience.

Both Opposition and ruing-front politicians interpreted these observations as the High Court’s suggestion to Mani to face the investigation after resigning as Minister. Leader of the Opposition VS Achuthanandan has called for the UDF government itself to resign.

The Congress Party’s central leadership is said to have urged Chandy to ask Mani to resign. State Congress chief VM Sudheeran is also reported to have strongly suggested to Chandy to seek Mani’s resignation. Second-rung leaders in the Congress such as VD Satheesan and TN Prathapan openly sought Mani’s resignation.

Most leaders of the UDF partners want Mani to go as they consider him a liability for the ruling front. One of the major reasons for the poor showing by the UDF in the recent civic elections was the ‘Mani factor’ which had defined the Oommen Chandy government, despite some of its achievements.

The Congress and the other alliance partners had hoped for good performance at the local body-elections whose results were announced on Saturday. The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front secured the majority of seats across the board at the three-tier elections.

Mani has been mainly blamed for the setback. Many UDF leaders now openly say that Mani should have resigned in the aftermath of the Vigilance Court order last month. Had he done so, they argue, the UDF could have saved the embarrassment of the electoral setback.

They put forward the same logic now: if Mani does not resign now after the High Court verdict, the Assembly elections to be held in six months would be a gonner too.