Father-son spat hits ruling UDF partner

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy

TRIVANDRUM,Jan15: The father-son feud in the Kerala Congress (B), a minor constituent of the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front, reached flash point on Saturday with party’s lone representative in the Oommen Chandy ministry, K B Ganesh Kumar, expressing his willingness to quit as Forest Minister.
The actor-turned politician conveyed his desire to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy after he came under scathing attack spearheaded by his father R Balakrishna Pillai and his loyalists in the party’s state leadership meeting here in the morning. Ganesh was earlier divested of all his positions in the party, including that of vice-chairman of KC (B). The announcement led to an uproar in the meeting with the supporters of Ganesh rising in protest. The party chairman avoided noisy scenes by adjourning the meeting. Pillai, who is the chairman of KC (B), had led the chorus of criticism against his son, saying that he had been acting in an authoritarian manner. He reportedly told the meeting that the minister was acting on his own. He neither discusses anything with the party nor with the chairman. An angry Ganesh retorted saying that he was ready to quit. He said he had already conveyed this to the Chief Minister.While talking to reporters, Pillai admitted he had differences with the minister. He said that the party committee will take a final decision on the future of Ganesh. Pillai said that that the removal of Ganesh from the party positions was due to his failure to attend the party’s election meetings.