The Hindu : Kerala News : Ebrahim Kunju to replace Kunhalikutty

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 02, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Ebrahim Kunju to replace Kunhalikutty

By Our Special Correspondent

KOZHIKODE, JAN. 1. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader and Industries Minister, P. K. Kunhalikutty, was today granted permission by his party's State committee to relinquish his Ministerial post in the Oommen Chandy Ministry.

V. K. Ebrahim Kunju, IUML MLA from Mattancherry, will be the State's new Industries Minister. He will assume office as soon as Mr. Kunhalikutty steps down.

The party State chief, Panakkad Syed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal, today announced that Mr. Ebrahim Kunju would be in charge of all the portfolios, including those of IT and Industries, that Mr. Kunhalikutty had held.

Mr. Ebrahim Kunju is now the Ernakulam district secretary of the party.

After the meeting today, Mr. Kunhalikutty announced that he would submit his resignation when Thangal conveyed the IUML State working committee's decision today to the Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy. Mr. Kunhalikutty will continue as League's State general secretary. Even as the announcement was being made at a press conference, a big crowd of party supporters went on chanting slogans in support of Mr. Kunhalikutty.

Mr. Kunhalikutty left the hall where the press briefing was under way and made a short speech during which he said he would soon be on a State-wide tour to counter the allegations that had been made against him.

The drama retold

Briefing mediamen after the nearly two-hour meeting of the party's State working committee today, the IUML all-India general secretary, E. Ahamed, retold the drama that the meeting witnessed when it took up for discussion Mr. Kunhalikutty's letter in which he sought permission to resign as Minister. The committee members initially rejected Mr. Kunhalikutty's request unanimously, Mr. Ahamed told mediamen. The State committee wanted him to continue as the Industries Minister as well as the party's State general secretary.

Mr. Kunhalikutty said once again that it would not be possible for him to discharge the duties of general secretary and Industries Minister at the same time and insisted he be allowed to relinquish his Minister's mantle. The State committee then left the matter to Thangal for a final decision. Thangal announced that he had accepted Mr. Kunhalikutty's request.

"Since no one in the party questions Thangal's decision, the members of the State committee then accepted Kunhalikutty's request to be allowed to quit as Minister,'' he said. It was also announced that other decisions relating to organisational matters, including choice of office-bearers, would be taken later.

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