THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/KOCHI: Opposition parties have demanded the resignation of the power minister M.M. Mani after a trial court rejected the minister's discharge petition in Anchery Baby murder case. KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran said Mr Mani should resign or else Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should take steps to oust him from his cabinet. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala too demanded that Mr Mani should step down in the wake of the court's adverse observation.
Mr Sudheeran in a statement here said the inclusion of CPM Idukki district secretary K.K. Jayachandran in the Anjeri Baby murder case points to the murder politics practiced by the CPM. Mr Chennithala described the refusal of Mr Mani to resign in the wake of the Thodupuzha court rejecting his petition as anti-democratic. Speaking to reporters in Kochi on Saturday, he said that Mr. Mani has become an accused in the case following the court verdict and has no moral right to continue as a minister. "Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should collect a written copy of Mani's resignation ," he said.
BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan too has demanded Mr Mani's resignation and said that he doesn't have the right to continue as a minister even for a minute. Mr Rajasekharan pointed out that leaders like K. Karunakaran, R. Balakrishna Pillai and K.M. Mani have all stepped down when they were accused in various cases. "Mani's ethics and morality are being examined now. There is no point in listening to his personal comments in this regard," he said.
