Kerala Public Works Minister T U Kuruvila on Monday resigned following the allegation that his family members were involved in a shady land deal.
Kuruvila submitted his resignation to Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan at the latter's residence in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday night.
Kuruvila's party, Kerala Congress-Joseph, had on Sunday approved his offer to quit after the ruling Left Democratic Front last week recommended a judicial probe into the land deal.
The charge against Kuruvila's family pertains to irregularities in the purchase of about 50 acres of land by his children at Rajakumari village near Munnar in Idukki district.
The land purchase was allegedly part of a deal with an NRI businessman who was interested in setting up a resort in the region.
The deal, however, fell through with the businessman coming out with a charge that he was cheated in the deal and the minister was also aware of the matter right from the beginning.
Kuruvila had joined the Cabinet last year after party chairman P J Joseph was forced to quit facing the allegation of having misbehaved with a woman passenger on board a flight.
Kerala Congress-J, which has four members in the Assembly, will decide its successor to Kuruvila at an executive meeting to be held at Kottayam on September 15.
