Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 11
Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Wednesday rejected opposition calls that he should step down following the rout of his Left Democratic Front (LDF) in assembly by-elections.
"The demand for my resignation is a routine one," Achuthanandan told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting.
The Congress Tuesday called for the Marxist chief minister's exit after winning all three assembly by-elections in Kannur, Ernakulam and Alappuzha.
The Congress victories shattered the LDF myth that it never lost a by-election while in power. Two of the seats were lost by Achuthanandan's Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and one by the Communist Party of India.
The LDF, the chief minister said, would meet soon to discuss the electoral debacle.