Kerala minister files for divorce

IANS/Thiruvananthapuram

Beleaguered film star-turned-Kerala minister K B Ganesh Kumar yesterday filed for divorce in a family court here.

The minister for forests, sports and cinema filed a petition for divorce though veteran advocate K Ramkumar. The court has accepted the petition and posted the matter for hearing on June 29.

Last month, government chief whip P C George told the media that Kumar,46, was beaten up by his lover’s husband.

The scandal rocked the Congress-led Oommen Chandy government, which has only a three-seat majority in the 140-member Kerala assembly.

Kumar’s wife is a doctor, and the couple have two sons.

Kumar is facing fire also from his party, the Kerala Congress (B), which is headed by his father, veteran R Balakrishna Pillai, a long-time legislator.

A year ago, Pillai booted his son from a party post and demanded that the chief minister oust his son from the cabinet, as he no longer listened to party directives.

At Chandy’s behest, the father-son duo had decided to bury the hatchet last month.