Kerala Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran resigned on Sunday, just hours after a newly launched Malayalam news channel aired an audio clip in which he was alleged to have engaged in a lewd phone conversation with a woman.
The 72-year-old MLA from Elathur in Kozhikode district was the sole Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) member in the Council of Ministers. He is the second Minister to resign from the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet, which has not yet completed a year in office.
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Announcing his decision at a hurriedly summoned media conference here, the veteran leader claimed he was duty bound to honour the prestige of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, his party, and the people of the State.
Mr. Saseendran, however, said he had nothing to do with the audio clip and he did not know the woman with whom he is alleged to have had the conversation.
Justifying his decision to quit, Mr. Saseendran said he did not have the moral right to continue in the post as he had sought the resignation of elected representatives involved in similar situations when he was in the Opposition. “I do not want to wait until the truth comes out. It is not fair on my part to continue as Minister when an investigation is being conducted against me. I don’t want to cling to technicalities to avoid the resignation,” he said.
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Asserting that he was not ready to bow before anyone, he said what was of utmost importance to him was the people’s trust. “I discussed the issue with the Chief Minister. He left it to my moral conscience. I told him he can assign any agency to order a probe,” Mr. Saseendran said. Asked if he would file a defamation case against those who levelled the allegation, the NCP leader said the Chief Minister should ensure a fair probe.
A member of the national council of the NCP, Mr. Saseendran was elected to the Kerala Assembly for the first time in 1980.