Kerala state Transport Minister AK Saseendran resigned on Sunday, after a new Malayalam channel aired an audio clip where a man was reportedly speaking inappropriately with a woman. The channel alleged that the voice was that of Saseendran, and that he had called the woman and spoken to her for sexual favours, after she came to him asking for help.
The audio clip was aired by Mangalam channel, which was launched on Sunday. In their very first bulletin, they played the ‘leaked’ clip.
The audio clip - which isn’t very clear - has a man’s voice speaking in a lewd manner. The channel did not air the voice of the person on the other end.
Saseendran called a press conference at 3pm on Sunday, where he announced his resignation. While the former Minister claimed that he did not do anything wrong, he was resigning to safeguard the integrity of the government and his party.
“Before evaluating the right and wrong, it is important to safeguard the integrity of the party. The party has a moral responsibility. Neither the government nor the party will have to hang its head in shame because of me,” the LDF leader and Elathoor MLA said.
“This is not the time to stick to the position and prove whether I am right or wrong. I just want to prove I’m right after stepping out of the position,” Saseendran added.
The former Minister welcomed a probe by any agency in the case, and said he wasn’t forced to step down by the Chief Minister.
The Kerala Chief Minister meanwhile told media persons that he will order a probe into the issue. “We consider the allegations seriously. We will conduct a detailed probe. A channel has aired this as part of their marketing techniques, but we will surely inquire into it with seriousness,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.
Opposition parties meanwhile have hit out at the government after the incident. "Nobody should be allowed to do this," said Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala. "Crimes against women are on the rise in this LDF government, and in that context, a proper investigation is needed,” he added.
Unlike EP Jayarajan, who first denied the nepotism allegations and held on to power for a few days before he finally stepped down, AK Saseendran has so far not attempted to give an explanation on the alleged audio tape.