THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPI(M)-backed independent MLA Manjalamkuzhi Ali today submitted his resignation to the office of Kerala Assembly Speaker K Radhakrishnan.
The letter was delivered through Ali's personal assistant to the secretary of the Speaker, sources at the Speaker's office said.
Ali, who represented Mankada in Malappuram district for the last two terms, had announced his resignation on October 11, citing differences with CPI(M) leadership.
Ali was having a strained relationship with the official leadership of the state CPI-M for the past few months. He had said that he was "humiliated" by party leaders while announcing the resignation.
A businessman-cum-social worker, Ali was known to be close to Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and not on good terms with Pinarayi Vijayan faction which controls CPI-M in the state.
Both the Congress and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had hailed Ali's decision. IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty had extended an open invitation to Ali to join his party.
The resignation of Ali is seen by political analysts as yet another setback to CPI-M's plans in Kerala to strengthen the party's position among minorities.
Earlier, former Members of Parliament A P Abdullakutty (Kannur) and K S Manoj (Alappuzha) had left CPI(M) and joined the Congress questioning the party's policies on vital issues including that of faith.