THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Announcing his resignation on Wednesday evening, Saji Cherian said he felt that it was not ethical to continue in the cabinet. Speaking to the media at the Secretariat media room, Cherian said he was saddened by the misinterpretation of his speech to weaken the policy and approach of the state government and Left Democratic Front.
“I have not defamed the Constitution. The chief minister has sought Advocate General’s advice over the comments in my speech. Hence it is not appropriate for me to continue in the post for a fair decision on the matter,” he said.
“It was my language and style in that criticism. I haven’t even once thought that this would be interpreted as a disrepute to the Constitution. I did not mean that. I’d made this clear in the assembly on Tuesday. Still, certain words are being widely used for a misleading campaign. This false campaign is based on certain excerpts from my speech. This is aimed at weakening the approaches of CPM and the Left front,” he said.
Saji Cherian said he will be active in the future programmes of his party to uphold secular and democratic values. His party was strongly defending the Constitution against the challenges of the present times. “We are engaged in strong efforts, including legal and political methods, to protect secular, democratic and federal values. As a member of the CPM, my learnt opinion is to protect Constitutional values. Protecting the Constitution is an important political responsibility of the CPM and the LDF,” he said.
“During the seven and half decades post-independence we have witnessed attempts to sabotage Constitutional concepts of democracy, civil rights and goals of economic justice. The organisation in which I’m a member had a proud role in preventing such moves. My organisation was in the forefront in the people’s agitations against the Emergency, Citizenship Amendment Act and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Saji Cherian said that the Congress and the BJP, in different times, had failed to uphold the spirit of the Constitution. They extensively dismissed elected state governments. In 1959, the Communist ministry in Kerala was unseated this way. “The challenges faced by secular values are intense. Latest is the undemocratic steps against those who exposed those responsible for the Gujarat riots,” he said.