THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Leader of the Opposition V. S. Achuthanandan has demanded the resignation of the UDF government in the wake of the High Court upholding the vigilance court directive for further investigation into the bar bribe case against finance minister K. M. Mani.
At a press conference here on Monday, Achuthanandan said Mani's resignation would not be enough and the entire Cabinet should go immediately.
The court's remark "Ceaser's wife must be above suspicion" should serve as a clear message to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. "If they have an iota of shame left, they should quit without any delay," he said.
Achuthanandan said Chandy had declared Mani a "saint" within and outside the Assembly. "The chief minister who resorted to all kinds of tricks and illegal ways to save Mani owes an apology to the people of the state," he said and added that the court had also sought to know how a free and fair probe could be conducted with the minster in office. "This has a lot of significance.
"This is what me and opposition parties have been demanding within and outside the Assembly. The vigilance court and High Court verdicts are a stinging reply to UDF leaders who were going around and saying my complaint in the bribe case had no locus standi," he said.
He said by clinging on to power, Mani would not only be defying law but also challenging the people of the state.
CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also demanded the resignation of the government. "Chandy is responsible for the misuse of administrative machinery to save Mani. He always maintained within and outside the Assembly that there was no proof of Mani accepting bribe. But the investigation officer had found that the minister had indeed accepted bribe. However, there was an attempt to sabotage the findings by using the office of the vigilance director," he added.
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