Kerala CPI(M) Rejects Opposition Demands for Minister Saji Cherian’s Resignation

The CPI(M) State Secretariat in Kerala has firmly rejected the Opposition’s calls for Minister for Culture Saji Cherian’s resignation, following a controversy regarding his remarks on the Constitution at a public event in 2022. Law Minister P. Rajeeve emphasized that the Kerala High Court had expressed confidence in the state police by dismissing the petitioner’s demand for a CBI inquiry and instead instructed the Crime Branch to re-investigate the matter.

Rajeeve clarified that the Single Bench’s ruling was made without hearing Cherian’s side, and the government planned to appeal the decision. Despite the controversy, which had previously led to Cherian’s resignation from the Cabinet in 2022, the Chief Minister reinstated him in 2023 after the police report cleared him of any wrongdoing. The Congress-led UDF and BJP, however, have escalated their protests, demanding Cherian’s resignation, with Congress workers staging marches and BJP activists burning effigies in his constituency. The CPI(M) maintains that there is no substantial political or legal reason to compel the Minister’s resignation.