KOTTAYAM: Despite of all-round support from his party leadership, the LDF leadership and Chief Minister V S Achuthanadan, Kerala Congress leader P J Joseph is in no hurry to return to the LDF Ministry.
Though quite relieved after the Sriperumbudur court set him free on Monday on finding that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges of sexual advances and molestation upon a woman fellow passenger on a flight, Joseph is reportedly adopting a ‘wait-and-watch’ approach on the unfurling scenario politically. Buoyed by the fact that the trauma through which he and his family had passed through in the past two-and-half years has ended for good, Joseph is reportedly making cautious moves to reassert himself and retrieve his political career and sagging fortunes of his party. That the complainant in the case under question is moving an appeal petition against the trial court verdict is also an influencing factor upon him, it is said.
Joseph, along with his wife Santha and a few family members are staying in the Velankanni Church, where they have taken part in a Holy Mass on Tuesday. All of them are offering fasting and prayers in the renowned shrine as a thanksgiving gesture in lieu of the favourable verdict from the trial court in the sensational case. Special prayers are also being arranged. Joseph will arrive here on March 14 from Velankanni, coinciding with the state committee meet convened at the party headquarters against the backdrop of the verdict in the case.
According to sources, though a unanimous voice, including that of incumbent Works Minister Mons Joseph, is all set to reverberate in the state committee seeking the re-entry of Joseph in the state ministry, the latter is likely to cut short discussions on this score.The acquittal in the sex harassment case, the scope of the higher court’s ruling in future not withstanding, is an opportunity for both Joseph and his outfit to turn a new chapter, it is pointed out.The stance of the LDF whether Joseph should be propped politically, in the hope that his services can be used again to build bridges with the Church, will be interesting to note, especially after the outcome of the counting of Lok Sabha votes on May 16.