Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala water resources minister Mathew T Thomas and former Kerala state president of Janata Dal (Secular) has resigned to pave the way for another JD(S) leader and Chittur MLA K Krishnan Kutty to assume the post of water resources minister. Mathew met the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday morning and submitted his resignation.

The decision in this regard was announced by the JD(S) national secretary general Danish Ali in Bengaluru.

There was an internal bickering among the JD(S) leaders, which led to the party making an agreement in 2016. JD(S) is the third largest ally of the CPM-led LDF government in Kerala.

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As per the agreement made in 2016, Mathew would relinquish the post as water resources minister in favour of Krishnan once the government completed the halfway mark of its five-year term.

JD(S) national president and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda had approved the change of ministers in the party.

Earlier, after a meeting with Gowda, JD(S) leaders CK Nanu and Krishnan had said that Gowda had given the green signal for the agreement that the ministers can be changed after two-and-half years of governance.

The two factions led by Thomas and Krishnan have been at loggerheads for quite some time over the party's lone ministerial berth in the CPI(M)-led LDF government. Entering politics through the Indian National Congress, Krishnan, hailing from Palakkad, had served as a Congress member in 1969.

It is reported that Krishnan would take oath as the minister before the Legislative Assembly session commencing on November 27 or November 28.