Chief Minister denies that Mr. Mani resigned under pressure

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here today that neither he nor the UDF had demanded Mr. Mani’s resignation.

Announcing acceptance of Mr. Mani’s resignation, the Chief Minister said that he still considered Mr. Mani as innocent and believed that he would be able to return after proving his innocence.

Welcoming the decision of Mr. Mani to stay in the UDF, Mr. Chandy said that Mr. Mani had been with the United Democratic Front for long. Though he had resigned as Minister now, the UDF needed his service in the political sphere.

He said that in the tradition of the coalition set up, the allocation of the Finance portfolio would be done on the advice of Mr. Mani who is chairman of the Kerala Congress (M).

He said that he did not favour public remarks against Mr. Mani by Congress leaders. The Congress high command had not asked for resignation of Mr. Mani as reported by the media.

The Chief Minister did not accept resignation of Govenrment Chief Whip Thomas Unniyadan, who resigned in solidarity with Mr. Mani.