After over three days of high voltage drama Kerala minister Thomas Chandy stepped down on Wednesday. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state secratary N Peethambaran Master handed over the minister's resignation letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Chandy is the third minister to leave the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala since it came to power in May 2016.

RESIGNATION: FROM 2 YEARS TO 2 DAYS

Amidst immense pressure from Opposition and within the LDF, Thomas Chandy on Sunday said that their is no question of him resigning and "will think about it after 2 years". However, the LDF meeting which was convened later in the day witnessed verbal spat between NCP representatives and other co allies in the ruling front. Sources revealed that According to sources, at one point CPI state secretary Kaanam Rajendran and Thomas Chandy indulged in a heated debate as well.

The meeting finally assigned Vijayan to take a final call on the fate of the tainted minister. He gave NCP time till Monday to revert with their decision. NCP, however, convinced the CM that the minister would get a favourable decision from Kerala High Court when his petition challenging the collector's report would be considered.

CONGRESS 'HELPING HAND' FOR LEFT MINISTER

On Monday, Thomas Chandy roped in a senior Supreme Court lawyer Vivek Thankha to appear for him in the Kerala High Court. Thankha is apparently a Congress MP from Madhya Pradesh. Despite immense criticism from Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), Thankha appeared for Thomas Chandy.

Senior Congress leaders including KPCC president MM Hasan requested Thankha not to go ahead with the case considering the political scenario in Kerala. However, he declined it citing professional reasons.

HIGH COURT HAMMERING

All eyes were on Kerala High Court on Tuesday as the division bench was set to hear all petitions pertaining to the allegations on the tainted minister. Thomas Chandy and his counsel had no idea what they were to witness.

The court came down heavily on the minister for challenging the government machinery. The HC observed that it was unconstitutional for the minister to challenge the district collector's report. The court further said that the minister is facing public scrutiny and should not expect judiciary to protect him.

Though the bench granted time till Tuesday afternoon to withdraw the petition, Thankha decided to go ahead with the battle. This lead to severe bashing from the court in afternoon session. The division bench observed that it would be appropriate for Thomas Chandy to step down from the capacity of the minister and fight the case legally. The division bench then dismissed the plea.

PINARAYI TIGHTENED THE SCREWS

Following huge setback from the High Court, focus shifted to Pinayari Vijayan by the evening, who flew from Calicut to Thiruvananthapuram and told reporters that he would take appropriate action at the right time after considering the court verdict and NCP decision.

Soon after the court verdict, reports emerged that Thomas Chandy would move to the Supreme Court challenging the HC verdict. But Vijayan called upon the minister and NCP leaders to Thiruvananthapuram late in the night. There, Chandy told reporters he will resign if their is any personal mention in the high court verdict.

CPI SKIPS CABINET

On Wednesday morning Thomas Chandy and NCP state leaders met Vijayan and asked for more time to decide. It is learned that the CM asked Thomas Chandy to inform their decision in 3 hours. Following the meeting, Chandy went to the government secretariat to attend the cabinet meeting. CPI ministers, who were provoked by the presence of the tainted minister, took a tough call.

All four cabinet ministers of CPI who came for the cabinet skipped the meeting sending a strong message to the Chief Minister and NCP. Vijayan held a press conference after the meeting and told mediapersons that NCP has been given few hours to study the court order and discuss with the national leadership.

THE CLIMAX

Around 11 am, Thomas Chandy left his residence for the meeting with his party national leadership and said the final decision will be taken in 2 hours. As the reporters shifted focus to Chandy's residence, former minister and NCP MLA AK Saseendhran broke the suspense. "Resignation will be given in 30 minutes," he said. Shortly after, Chandy came out in his official vehicle amid tight security.

The NCP state leader reached the Chief Minister's office with the resignation letter around 12.45 pm. Within 10 minutes, Peethambaran announced that they have handed over the resignation to Vijayan. The CM, stepping out of his office, confirmed the receipt of Thomas Chandy's resignation and added, "the letter would be forwarded to Governor P Sadhasivam".

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Thomas Chandy is the third minister to leave the LDF government in Kerala since it came to power in May 2016.