Kerala Water Resources Minister Mathew Thomas resigns
(Sourced from PTI)
Kerala Water Resources Minister Mathew T Thomas, a nominee of the Janata Dal (Secular) in the CPI(M)-led LDF government, submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The move comes after the JD(S), a key partner in LDF, Friday decided to replace Thomas with K Krishnankutty. Thomas handed over the resignation letter to Vijayan at the latter's official residence, Cliff House, today.
"I have handed over my resignation letter to the chief minister. I am an MLA now," said Thomas in Thiruvananthapuram. On his performance as a minister in the last two and half years, Thomas said that he cannot say he was fully satisfied but was happy as he could take up various activities during his tenure in the water resources department.
Asked if he would stake a claim for the post of the state party chief, Thomas said he had not put forward any such demand and had not listed any condition for his resignation. Thomas said he had functioned as the state president of the party and had helped it to grow. The party wouldn't split and would remain in the LDF, he said.
The JD(S), founded and headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, has three MLAs in the Kerala Assembly. Senior JD(S) leaders from the state including K Krishnankutty (current MLA of Chittur) and C K Nanu, the other MLAs, met Gowda and held discussions in Bengaluru last week, after which the national leadership had announced the decision to replace Mathew Thomas with Krishnankutty.
The two factions led by Thomas and Krishnankutty have been at loggerheads for quite some time over the party's lone ministerial berth. Krishnankutty is likely to be sworn in as minister tomorrow. The 13th session of the Kerala Assembly is also beginning tomorrow.
