Saseendran to be sworn in as Kerala Minister

 Thiruvanthapuram, Jan 31: NCP leader AK Saseendran, who had to quit as Kerala Transport Minister in 2017 over a sleaze charge, will be sworn in as a minister on Thursday. The NCP leader had to resign in March 2017 after a sleaze chat of his with a woman jourlist had surfaced. Last week, a court cleared Saseendran of the charge. Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam will administer the oath of office to Saseendran in the Raj Bhavan. On Wednesday, one Maha Lekshmi filed a fresh petition in the Kerala High Court questioning the way the case was disposed off by the lower court. Lekshmi had earlier also approached the lower court requesting that Saseendran should not be cleared. But her plea was dismissed. Saseendran was expected to get back the Transport portfolio, which has been with Chief Minister Pirayi Vijayan since March. The court on Saturday, gave a clean chit to Saseendran after the woman jourlist backtracked on the statements. In March 2017, Saseendran resigned over an audio clip in which he was heard having a lewd conversation with the jourlist. Last week, the jourlist told the court that Saseendran never misbehaved with her. Nor was she sure whether it was the former Minister who had spoken to her over the phone. (IANS)