Bengaluru: Kerala transport minister A.K. Saseendran resigned on Sunday, within hours of a private television news channel broadcasting charges of sexual misconduct against him on its launch.
The minister denied any misconduct and demanded a probe into the matter.
Mangalam TV, a part of the Malayalam daily Mangalam, launched on Sunday by playing an audio tape of a sexually explicit conversation between a man and an unidentified woman.
No police complaints of sexual misconduct have been filed against the minister, and the woman has not come out in public with allegations of sexual misconduct. It is unclear whether the content was put out in public with her consent.
Saseendran said, “I appeal to the CM to probe the allegations against me. But it’s my responsibility to step down to protect the value of my party and front.”
The minister refused to discuss the details of the allegations but added, “I am resigning not out of compulsion. I am sure I have not done anything wrong. But my first priority is the political atmosphere in front of me, I do not want to put my government and the front in any pressure when it is facing an election close by.”
This is the second minister to step down from the Kerala cabinet—the first was E.P. Jayarajan in October over charges of nepotism—even before the government completes a year in office in May.
Saseendran is a legislator from the Nationalist Congress Party, a constituent of the ruling Left and Democratic Front alliance.
