Kerala film star-turned-minister KB Ganesh Kumar to divorce

Thiruvananthapuram: Beleaguered film star-turned-Kerala minister KB Ganesh Kumar filed for divorce in a family court on Monday.

Minister for Forests and Sports Kumar, 46, filed a petition for divorce though veteran advocate K Ramkumar. The court has accepted the petition and posted the matter for hearing June 29.

Last month, government chief whip PC George told the media that Kumar was the subject of a news report in a local daily that claimed a minister had been 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.

The couple have two sons.

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

A year ago, Pillai sacked his son from a party post and demanded that Chief Minister Chandy oust him from the cabinet, as he no longer listened to party directives.

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

It was reported that the minister’s wife had sought Chandy’s intervention. The matter was raised in the assembly. The chief minister explained that Kumar’s wife had indeed met him, but had not submitted any petition on which he could act.

The truce between father and son did not last long after Pillai complained again that his son continued to pay no heed to party directives.

On Monday, Pillai told Chandy again that his son should be evicted from the state cabinet.