Thiruvananthapuram: Resignation over, the embarrassment sticks. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s inaction against Cabinet colleague Thomas Chandy, who filed a suit against State of Kerala, defies logic.
Worse, Mr Chandy threw all canons of collective responsibility to the winds by accusing the office of the Revenue Minister and the district collector of being complicit in an unfair probe against him.
Mr Chandy sought to arraign the State, represented by the Chief Secretary, the Revenue Secretary, Alappuzha Collector, the Minor Irrigation Division, Thanneermukkom, and the Principal Agriculture Officer, Alappuzha.
If the Water World Tourism Company Pvt Ltd, which owns Lake Palace Resort, were to sue the Government, Mr Chandy could have argued he is but its non-executive director. But the opening part of the petition avers: “The petitioner is a minister in the Council of Ministers...”
Mr Chandy may or may not get a reprieve from the higher judiciary and he might return to run his business fiefdom in Kuwait, but the Chief Minister will have to clarify why he sought to treat the rambunctious businessman-cum-lawmaker with kid gloves.
Mr Vijayan being beholden to Mr Chandy when the two-MLA NCP do not matter much numerically is in stark political contrast to Mr Vijayan’s so-be-it attitude when Janata Dal of M P Veerendra Kumar and RSP, both Left fellow travellers, demanded better accommodation in the Left camp.
Senior bureaucrats say Mr Chandy is solely responsible for his fate as he put on a coat of self-righteousness and challenged the Opposition, instead of admitting lapses and offering recompense. Even after the High Court made mince meat of him, Mr Chandy brazened public disapproval and attended the Cabinet meeting.
This is perhaps a first in Kerala, where a mere hint of disapproval has been sufficient grounds for a minister to keep off the Cabinet. By letting Mr Chandy sit at the high table, Mr Vijayan has shown an extreme gesture of supplication.
Being the CM, he could have asked his colleague to step aside till after his petition against the State Government was settled. But Mr Vijayan had already given Mr Chandy a clean chit, similar to his several premature pronouncements such as ruling out a conspiracy in the actor attack case before a probe had even begun.
Perhaps the Chief Minister’s sole consolation is Mr Chandy’s praise as he returned in his official car to Alappuzha after handing over the resignation. “No one need think of unseating CM in the near future”. There is no known threat to Mr Vijayan, yet Mr Chandy brings it up. What a strange camaraderie!
