Kerala minister's father 'unsure' of compromise talks

Thiruvananthapuram, April 19 (IANS) The standoff between state Forest and Sports Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar and his father, veteran politician and Kerala Congress (B) chairman R. Balakrishna Pillai, continued to remain unresolved with the latter saying he is 'unsure' about the outcome of Thursday's talks.

'He will lose his chair if he does not listen to the party. I am not sure whether he is going to change his ways after yesterday's talks,' said Pillai, referring to the talks held separately with the father-son duo by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and state Congress president Ramesh Chennithala Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at the Nair Service Society (NSS) headquarters near Kottayam, Pillai said he was not pinning much hopes on Thursday's talk.

The minister and his father have been at loggerheads after Pillai reportedly accused his son of taking major decisions with little consideration for the directions issued by the party.

Recently, the NSS, a social organisation of the Hindu Nair community, had reportedly made a failed attempt to bring the duo to a compromise. It was then that the top Congress leaders from the state decided to intervene and held separate talks with them.

Ganesh Kumar, a filmstar-turned-legislator, did not speak to reporters after the talks.

Ganesh Kumar is the sole party legislator and Pillai could not contest the assembly polls last April as he was serving a year-long jail term after being convicted by the apex court.

Since his release from jail, the father and son never had the best of relations and the party also was divided between them.

In 2001, a similar tiff broke out between the father and son when A.K. Antony became the chief minister.

Then both of them were legislators and Antony opted for Ganesh Kumar for his cabinet, citing the case Pillai was facing.

After being exonerated, Pillai immediately asked his son to make way for him in the ministry and he complied.