Kerala ruling front legislator George quits assembly

Kottayam (Kerala) Nov 10 Kerala ruling front's estranged legislator P.C. George announced his resignation on Tuesday that would be handed over to state assembly speaker N. Sakthan on Thursday.

The 65-year-old Kerala politician and six-time legislator George is currently suspended from the Kerala Congress (Mani) for his constant attack on party supremo and state Finance Minister K.M. Mani.

"I have resigned as a legislator and I will hand over my resignation to the Speaker on Thursday. On this occasion, I wish that Mani who has been severely indicted by the Kerala High Court also follows suit by handing in his resignation," George told reporters here.

The Kerala Congress (Mani) is the third biggest ally of the Congress-led Oommen Chandy government and has nine legislators.

His decision to resign comes at a time when George is facing the heat as the case of getting him disqualified is currently on and the speaker was to give his verdict on Friday.

Over the years, George has been moving back and forth between the rival fronts in the state.

George, who hails from the rubber plantation area of Poonjar in Kottayam district, began his political career through the student movement in the early 1970s.

He became a legislator for the first time in 1980 and again won when the assembly elections were held two years later after the government fell. He lost the 1987 polls and did not contest the 1992 elections.

Since 1996, George has never lost from the Poonjar assembly constituency.

For close to four decades, George had an intense rivalry with Mani. In 2010, the two ended their acrimony, but early this year George has turned to do what he knows best - to attack Mani and that has left him in a position that he is today.

Incidentally, from 1980 till 2003, George was a member of the Kerala Congress (Joseph) until he was ousted by his party chairman and now State Water Resources Minister P.J. Joseph.

In 2003, he formed his own party Kerala Congress (Secular) and contested the 2006 polls as an ally of the Left Democratic Front. Mid-way, he shifted to the UDF camp and in 2010 merged his party with that of Mani.

He has already rejuvenated his old party Kerala Congress (Secular) which came out successful in 32 divisions that his party contested in the last week civic polls and was recognised by his old foe -- the Left opposition -- as a partner in the polls.

Through his resignation, his next move would be to ensure that the Left opposition accepts his party as an official ally of the Left Democratic Front.