Boisterous scenes were witnessed at the State executive meeting of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) at Adhyapaka Bhavan here on Tuesday, but a decision on the resignation of Transport Minister Thomas Chandy, smarting under allegations of land grab and severe criticism thereof from the High Court, remained aloof.
State president T.P. Peethambaran, who presided over the meeting, in which tempers ran high, with a major section demanding that Mr. Chandy step down immediately, remained elusive in his media briefing, choosing to maintain that the party protocol involved sharing the majority sentiments with the parliamentary board, which would take a call on the issue.
NCP State office-bearers went into a huddle post-dusk here to gauge the sentiments expressed by the State executive.
“The Minister continues to enjoy the backing of the party, as there’s nothing that has come up to establish his culpability in the case,” Mr. Peethambaran reiterated his previous position.
He also chose to downplay the High Court’s strongly worded observations while throwing out a petition filed by Mr. Chandy, asserting that the court only asked him to go back to the District Collector who had given an adverse report on the property in question.
“We have conveyed our party’s decision-making procedure to the Chief Minister and are hopeful of closing the matter in a day or two. But the Chief Minister enjoys absolute authority to decide on the matter,” he added.
Senior leader A.K. Saseendran said the general sentiment was that the party’s stance shouldn’t dent the image of the coalition and the government.
Chandy skips meet
Asked why Mr. Chandy remained absent from the State executive despite being present in Kochi, Mr. Peethambaran said he had conveyed his inability to attend the meeting citing official commitments.