The Hindu : Front Page : Antony resigns, takes responsibility for election debacle

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 30, 2004

Front Page

Antony resigns, takes responsibility for election debacle

By Girish Menon

CALLING IT A DAY: The Kerala Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, leaving the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday after submitting his resignation to the Governor, R.L. Bhatia. — Photo: S. Mahinsha

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG. 29. In a dramatic development, the Kerala Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, today submitted his resignation to the Governor, R.L. Bhatia, here. The Congress leader said he was doing this assuming moral responsibility for the defeat the United Democratic Front led by his party had suffered in the Lok Sabha elections in May 2004.

Mr. Antony's announcement came soon after a visit by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, to the State. She had come to Kollam today to launch the 150th birth centenary celebrations of the social reformer, Sree Narayana Guru.

Sonia informed

Addressing a press conference at the domestic terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport soon after her departure, Mr. Antony said that he had sought the Congress president's permission to resign from his post soon after the elections, but she had not given it at that time. "Today, I informed Ms. Gandhi that the uncertainty could not continue indefinitely. I informed her of my resolve to resign. The UDF's electoral reverses might have been due to several reasons. But as the person who led the ruling front, I take the full moral responsibility for the electoral reverses," Mr. Antony said.

Soon afterwards, Mr. Antony called on the Governor to put in his papers.

Field open

The resignation has left the field open for the Congress high command to choose a new Chief Minister. The Union Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, Margaret Alva, are expected here on Monday. The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) will meet to choose the leader soon after the AICC observers, along with the AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala, Ahmed Patel, and the AICC secretary, Anil Sastry, go through the paces of arriving at a consensus candidate. The date for the CLP meet has not been announced.

There are indications that the choice of the successor would be from among the sitting MLAs. The possible choices include the Speaker, Vakkom Purushothaman, the UDF convener, Oommen Chandy, and the Finance Minister, K Sankaranarayanan.

A surprise move

Mr. Antony had not given any indication of his plans till he walked up to mediapersons shortly after Ms. Gandhi's departure. Ms. Gandhi had earlier met several senior Congress leaders at the airport. She also met 15 selected leaders, including the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, Thennala Balakrishna Pillai, the Speaker, the former KPCC presidents, K. Muralidharan, P.P. Thankachan, C.V. Padmarajan, Ministers, K. Sankaranarayanan and K.V. Thomas.

Mr. Antony hoped that the people of the State would in a fair manner assess his three-year tenure as Chief Minister. His Government had several success stories to its credit, though it could not implement all the programmes it had planned. He hoped the new Ministry would lead the State to progress.

Karunakaran's stand

The senior Congress leader, K. Karunakaran, said today that the Congress Legislature Party should elect the new Chief Minister. The practice of nominating someone should go and the MLAs should be asked to elect the new leader.

He said Mr. Antony's resignation was a "good thing" and a "service" to Kerala. "At least Antony has conceded. It is a good thing. It is a service he has done to the State. Antony has resigned taking the political situation in the State into account."

Mr. Muralidharan, while welcoming Mr. Antony's decision, said that the prospects of the UDF had brightened after Mr. Antony's resignation.

In the Lok Sabha elections held in May, the UDF won only one of the 20 seats. A lone seat — Ponnani — was won by E. Ahammed of the Muslim League.

This is the second time that Mr. Antony, who is 63, is resigning from the Chief Minister's post. In 1978, he resigned following differences with the central leadership.

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