Former Finance Minister K.M. Mani returned to his hometown to a tumultuous reception by his supporters, claiming that he had returned not as a black sheep, but with the satisfaction of using his office for the development of the State and his constituency, Pala.
Even though he was expected to trigger fireworks related to his conspiracy angle that led to his resignation as Finance Minister, Mr. Mani did not dwell on it despite demands from frontline audience to speak about it.
He, however, did not forget to poke his former colleague P.C. George, disqualified as a legislator earlier in the day, stating that there should be certain standards for being a legislator, otherwise it would only bring shame on the people who elected them. “I have only good bodings for Mr. George. I wish him well,” he said.
Replying to Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan’s campaign against him, Mr. Mani advised him not to be concerned about his position. “You should be concerned about yourself and your son,” he said in an oblique reference to the corruption cases against the Opposition leader’s son, A. Arun Kumar. He said he had introduced the Karunya Benefit Fund utilising the proceeds of Karunya Lottery. He had taken strong stand to oust Santiago Martin from Kerala so that the poor patients would benefit from it. The LDF had supported Santiago Martin to loot the people of the State, he said.
Mr. Mani began the day with a reception in the capital city in the morning, with similar functions being held all along the route he took down MC Road to arrive at Palai in the evening. But Democratic Youth Federation of India supporters held black flag demonstrations in some of the places.
Addressing a well-attended reception in his home constituency, Mr. Mani said Pala was the source of his energy.
He would fearlessly travel the legal course on the strength of the support of the Pala people to prove his innocence. In the 13 budgets he had presented in the Assembly, he had given due consideration to Pala’s development, even while promoting the development of the State.
