Kerala forest minister Saseendran rejects resignation demands amid Church criticism

T'puram: Forest minister A K Saseendran on Thursday rejected the call for his resignation by some Christian Church heads, who accused him of his inability to check the human-animal conflicts on forest fringes. Saseendran said such demands were unbecoming of the position of bishops.
Saseendran said he always had the impression that bishops were gifted individuals who possessed the ability to calm down others and speak good things.
"The call for resignation is a political demand. Bishops should think whether it is suitable for them to speak like this. Ordinary people have the right to evaluate a minister and pass comments. But I don't consider a bishop as one among the ordinary folks. I hold them a notch above. Will the issues get settled if I resign?" Saseendran asked.
Thamarassery bishop Mar Remigiose Inchananiyil was the first to seek Saseendran's resignation, in the context of a youth's death at Attamala in Wayanad in a wild jumbo attack.
Meanwhile, to another question, Saseendran said he would wholeheartedly accept NCP supremo Sharad Pawar's decision on the selection of the party's new state president. He said he was not a person to judge the qualification or disqualification of Kuttanad MLA, Thomas K Thomas, who is rumoured to have staked a claim for the state chief's post. P C Chacko resigned as NCP state president on Wednesday after the warring factions in the NCP state unit, led by Saseendran and Thomas, joined hands against Chacko and blamed him for the turmoil in the party's state unit.