The Hindu : Front Page : Joseph steps down; Kuruvilla named new Kerala Congress(J) Minister

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Tuesday, Sep 05, 2006

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Front Page

Joseph steps down; Kuruvilla named new Kerala Congress(J) Minister

Special Correspondent

Joseph dubs IG's report `incomplete,' seeks judicial probe into allegation

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 matter.

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. The letter was forwarded to the Governor. .

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.

Discussion

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.

Mr. Achuthanandan, who had ordered the informal investigation by the woman IG in deference to Mr. Joseph's demand to that effect, pointed out that the inquiry was ordered and the follow-up measures were taken without loss of time despite there being no written complaint from the woman.

He had given the officer 10 days to complete her work and the whole process had taken only 12 days.

He was sure that the episode would in no way affect the image of the LDF Government, the Chief Minister said.

`Report incomplete'

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.

Hotly contesting the findings, he said no person could have behaved the way he had been accused of, particularly so in his case because his left hand was only partially mobile after a surgery.

He alleged that there was a clear conspiracy to defame him and whip up a public frenzy over the issue.

The conspiracy and related activities took place between August 17 and 19 and involved his detractors in politics, including P.C. George, MLA, (who now heads the Kerala Congress-Secular), and Congress leader M.M. Hassan, he said.

The latter clarified later in the day that he had not played any part in the whole controversy.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala termed Mr. Joseph's resignation a heavy blow to the three-month-old LDF Government, but said the Minister's decision to quit was the right thing to do.

Further inquiry

The Chief Minister said further inquiry would be held into the complaint against Mr. Joseph. Talking to reporters, he said the Minister had quit on his own after going through the report of the I.G. of Police.

The probe had found that the woman passenger had to undergo humiliation and that she was "physically pained" by the alleged incident.

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