KOCHI: With the resignation of Thomas Chandy, it looks like there is a jinx attached to the Transport portfolio in Kerala government as no minister other than R Balakrishna Pillai, out of the 36 ministers the state has seen, could complete the full term in office. Reasons vary from either due to resignation or demise of the minister.
Of the 28 persons who held the seat, 11 made an unceremonious exit, while one, K M George, passed away while holding the portfolio. Balakrishna Pillai completed the term of an Assembly (1991-96) under two chief ministers. During the term of the eleventh Assembly, K B Ganesh Kumar had to vacate the seat to accommodate Pillai. However, the veteran politician could not return to the ministry as he was defeated in 2006.
Pillai's first term, as a transport minister in C Achutha Menon ministry during the third Assembly (1970-77) also had an abrupt end after he had to resign on June 25, 1976, following his failure to get elected to the Assembly. Veteran Kerala Congress leader K M George who replaced Pillai could not complete six months as he passed away on December 11, 1976.
The third Assembly had five transport ministers and two from CPI, resigned due to political reasons. Curiously, the fourth Assembly (1977-79) which saw four chief ministers had only two ministers for transport, K Narayana Kurup in three Ministries and C H Muhamed Koya in his Cabinet as chief minister.
The sixth Assembly (1980-82) had two ministers in charge, Lonappan Nambadan in the during LDF Ministry and K Karunakaran in the 79-day ministry headed by himself. Veteran leader KK Balakrishnan's term in the Ministry headed by Karunakaran in the next Assembly (1982-87) ended after 15 months.
Though K Sankara Narayana Pillai was the only minister of the portfolio in the eighth Assembly, its term was reduced by nine months. During the 10th Assembly, there were three ministers from Janatha Dal and one of them, Neelalohithadas Nadar resigned after a sex scandal surfaced; as did Jose Thettayil during the VS Achuthanandan Ministry which saw three ministers handling the portfolio including the CM. The last UDF ministry had three ministers for Transport while two resigned from the Pinarayi Vijayan Ministry in its 18 months, as transport ministers.