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Kerala Minister steps down following IGP's probe report

Special Correspondent

Joseph seeks judicial probe into allegation; dubs the report `incomplete'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Public Works Minister P.J. Joseph has resigned from the State Cabinet in the light of Inspector-General of Police B. Sandhya's finding that there is some substance in the allegation that he had misbehaved with a woman co-passenger while flying from Chennai to Kochi on August 3 and her recommendation that there is need for further probe into the charge.

Mr. Joseph's resignation came at the end of a day of rapid political activity in the State capital after his arrival here from Thrissur early Monday morning. He called on Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan in the morning to plead his case, was served with a copy of the IG's report around 2 p.m., announced his resignation at 3.50 p.m. at a news conference at his official residence and soon drove to the Chief Minister's official residence and handed over his resignation.

Still later in the evening, the Kerala Congress (J) leadership held an emergency meeting and picked party MLA T.U. Kuruvilla as a replacement for Mr. Joseph. Mr. Kuruvilla, a debutant in the Kerala Assembly, represents the Kothamangalam constituency. He was chairman of the Kerala State Housing Board during 1996-2001 and has been under a cloud following allegations of widespread irregularities in the implementation of the Maitri housing scheme.

At their meeting in the morning, Mr. Achuthanandan explained the IG's findings to Mr. Joseph. Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also arrived at the Chief Minister's residence shortly thereafter for confabulations. There were hurried telephonic consultations among the Chief Minister and senior Left Democratic Front (LDF) leaders during the forenoon and the consensus was that the best option would be for Mr. Joseph to step down. The issue would now be taken up by the Cabinet at its meeting on September 8 and by the ruling LDF State committee the following day. While announcing his resignation, Mr. Joseph dubbed the IG's report `incomplete' and the findings in it `improbable,' but said he was stepping down to prevent the allegations against him staining the image of the Government and the LDF. He sought a judicial inquiry into the allegations and said he would return with his reputation intact once such an inquiry was conducted.

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