Thomas Chandy, the transport minister in Kerala’s communist government, resigned on Wednesday following allegations of land grab.He’s become the third minister in the government to step down from his post following pressure from the government.
Chandy, is accused of having illegally grabbed agricultural land. This was stated in a report by a government official. The report had received support from the Kerala High Court.
Chandy’s resignation letter was handed over to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state secretary Peethambaran Master. The resignation followed a series of meetings this morning in state capital Thiruvananthapuram, reported India Today.
In a setback to the Pinarayi Vijayan government, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday had dismissed a petition by Chandy for quashing the Alappuzha district collector’s report which alleged large-scale land grab by him to build an expensive resort, reported IANS.
The division bench of the court of Justice P.N. Ravindran and Justice Devan Ramachandran came down heavily on Chandy and observed that it was very strange what a state Minister has filed a petition against the state government.
The businessman-turned politician was under attack for the past one month from the opposition Congress-led UDF and the BJP over charges that the luxury resort at Kuttanad in Alapuzha district, owned by him, had allegedly encroached backwaters and violated land rules.
Chandy, a three-time MLA from Kuttanad, had joined the Pinarayi cabinet in April after party nominee A K Saseendran resigned after a sleaze audio with a woman went viral.