Thiruvananthapuram: CPI-M in Kerala on Tuesday stepped
up its demand for resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy
in the wake of a Vigilance Court ordering a probe into his
role in the palmolein oil import deal when he was Finance
Minister in the K Karunakaran government in 1992.
Addressing a press meet after the party secretariat here,
Party State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said Chandy should step
down to facilitate a free and impartial probe in the case.
Handing over charge of Vigilance Department to his close
associate and Revenue Minister Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan was
not sufficient, Vijayan said, adding, "Chandy should resign
both on legal and moral grounds."
The probe ordered by the court would not be free and
impartial if Chandy continued in office, Vijayan said.
"....there is no point in his continuing in the post of
Chief Ministership...Not only that Chief Minister has the
overall control over the ministry," he said.
Chandy today shed the Vigilance department from the
bouquet of portfolios held by him, a day after the court
ordered the Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau to probe if
he had any role in the deal.
PTI
