Thiruvananthapuram: A day after she made allegations of infidelity, Kerala Left Democratic Front (LDF) minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar’s wife Tuesday said the issue has been resolved between the couple after the minister apologised.
“Last night, my husband, the minister, called. When I didn’t pick up, he called my sister. He apologised very emotionally. Whenever I talked, I wasn’t intending to tarnish the image of the minister or the government,” Bindu Menon told the media Tuesday.
Bindu said she was waiting for Kumar to apologise and never thought of making their issue public, but spoke to the media out of an emotional outburst after she said she was called ‘crazy’ over the issue. She added that she will not file any complaint in this regard.
The development comes a day after Menon alleged that she caught the minister ‘red-handed’ cheating at their family home in Kollam. Following this, the Opposition Congress called for the minister’s resignation from the state Cabinet. Youth Congress workers also held protests Tuesday in Kumar’s constituency Pathanapuram in Kollam district.
An actor-turned-politician, Kumar has represented Pathanapuram constituency since 2001. Son of former minister R. Balakrishna Pillai, he is also the chair of Kerala Congress (B) and has been a longtime functionary of the Nair Service Society (NSS).
Kumar, who had also served as a minister in the previous Congress regime, has faced multiple controversies in the past, including allegations of domestic violence by his former wife, which led to his resignation as the minister of Forests, Sports and Cinema in 2013 from the Congress’s Oommen Chandy-led Cabinet.
On Tuesday, he attended several official events but did not react to the development. However, amid the Opposition’s demand for his resignation, Kerala Assembly Speaker and CPI(M) leader A.N. Shamseer said the issue was a ‘closed chapter’.
“His wife herself said the issue has been resolved. The issue ends there. There is no time to discuss this. Elections will be declared in a couple of days. Let the people decide,” Shamseer told the media.
However, Congress leader K. Muraleedharan said the ruling LDF should take action against him. “We expelled our MLA (Rahul Mamkootathil) even before complaints were filed. They (LDF) should have the decency to expel him. They can’t avoid that responsibility using other excuses,” Muraleedharan said.
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A controversial past
The current controversy began after Bindu Menon Monday accused the minister of infidelity and said she had caught the minister ‘red-handed’ at their family home in Trivandrum on 7 March. Bindu told the media that their marriage had run into issues, and whenever she brought up the issue she was accused of unnecessary doubt.
She said she caught the minister ‘red-handed’ in the bedroom Saturday and tried to take pictures, while the driver tried to stop her and other minister’s staff tried to snatch the phone. She said she called her relative, retired DGP R. Sreelekha, who asked her to call the police control room (112). She said the police came but did not go inside as it was the house of a minister.
“I can’t explain what I saw. It’s not just bad. I have photos for that,” she said, adding that she chose to speak to the media to quash any rumours.
Ganesh Kumar, meanwhile, alleged the controversy was fuelled by the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) to tarnish his image in the run-up to elections.
“If you ask me if I am in love, that is like asking if Madhavikutty (writer) had loved. For Ganesh Kumar, it’s not just one, 5,000 love affairs are there. Because if a person has never loved, it means they are crazy,” Kumar had said, adding that his opponents chose a family matter as they could not accuse him of corruption or misgovernance.
An actor-turned-politician who made his debut in 1985 with K.G. George’s award-winning movie Irakal, Kumar has mostly been seen in supporting roles in the Malayalam film industry and TV serials. The minister’s latest movie was the science fiction mockumentary Gaganachari in 2024.
Kumar has been embroiled in several controversies in his political career. In 2012, Ganesh Kumar, who was then the Forest Minister in the Oommen Chandy-led Cabinet, undertook a boat ride in Thekkady lake along with then tourism minister A.P. Anil Kumar at night, which is prohibited. Reacting to the row, Kumar said the rules were not applicable to him as he was head of the department.
In the following year, Kumar’s then wife Dr Yamini Thankachi held a press conference alleging infidelity and domestic violence. After a furor from the LDF and his own party, Kumar resigned from his post.
In 2013, the CBI alleged that Kumar was involved in hatching a conspiracy to falsely implicate late Congress leader Oommen Chandy in a sexual harassment allegation as part of the solar scam. In October 2023, the Kerala High Court refused to quash the case against Kumar, which is still under trial.
In 2018, the Kollam police booked Kumar for allegedly assaulting a youth for not giving way to his car. The MLA denied the allegation and filed a counter complaint.
In 2021, it was reported that Kumar’s sister met Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI(M) leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, levelling allegations against Kumar and suspecting foul play in the will of their father.
And in 2024, a scientist from the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) accused Kumar of insulting officials during a meeting.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)