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3 min readThiruvananthapuramMar 10, 2026 07:13 AM IST
In a controversy that has hit Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar’s wife, Bindu Menon, accused him on Monday of infidelity, claiming that she caught him “red-handed” with another woman at their house last Saturday and alleging that the minister’s aides manhandled her and stopped police from going into the house after she had called them.
Menon told the media that there had been issues in their married life ever since their wedding in 2014.
“For the last two months, I had been away and he blocked my number… I decided there should be a closure to this and, accordingly, I went to his house at Valakam (in Kollam)… What I saw in the bedroom… I cannot explain. I saw things that should not have happened. I had taken photos, but his driver tried to stop me. I called the police on the advice of Sreelekha (former DGP R Sreelekha, who is now a BJP councillor in Thiruvananthapuram, is a relative of Menon’s). When police came, Ganesh’s aides did not allow them inside the house and they took away the woman,” Menon claimed.
Ganesh Kumar married Bindu Menon after legally divorcing his first wife, Yamini Thankachi, whose allegations of domestic violence had forced him to quit from the Congress-led government in 2013.
Ganesh, who is now a partner in the CPI(M)-led LDF, rejected the allegations raised by Menon, dismissing them as being part of the Opposition Congress’s “election stunts”.
Speaking to the media, he quipped that he had 5,000 love affairs. “Those who do not have love affairs are morons. Anyone in a state of madness can contact the police. No one should interfere in my personal matters. I am a good public representative and MLA, standing with poor people, free of corruption and communalism. My life is an open book, and if you want to know about love, I will explain it later,” he said.
He said great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, and writers Kamala Suraiyya and Punathil Kunjabdulla, were also targeted over matters related to love. “Let people on cyber platforms understand that Ganesh Kumar has not just one but 5,000 loves,” he said.
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Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan of the Congress said the incident showed that women in Kerala do not get justice from the police. “Police cannot ensure justice for the wife of a minister. Why did the police go back without recording her statement or probing whether she was manhandled or not? The Chief Minister should give answers to the people of the state,” he claimed.
A five-time legislator, Ganesh Kumar is the chairman of Kerala Congress (B), a splinter group of the regional party, Kerala Congress, which his father, the late R Balakrishna Pillai, had established. After quitting the Congress Cabinet in 2013, he moved to the LDF. He was inducted into the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet two years ago.
In 2023, the CBI had said that it was Ganesh Kumar who raised allegations of sexual misconduct that it described as baseless against former chief minister Oommen Chandy in connection with the solar scam.
Shaju Philip is a Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, where he leads the publication's coverage from Kerala. With over 25 years of experience in mainstream journalism, he is one of the most authoritative voices on the socio-political, religious, and developmental landscape of South India. Expertise, Experience, and Authority Decades of Regional Specialization: Shaju has spent more than two decades documenting the "Kerala Model" of development, its complex communal dynamics, and its high-stakes political environment. Key Coverage Beats: His extensive reporting portfolio includes: Political & Governance Analysis: In-depth tracking of the LDF and UDF coalitions, the growth of the BJP in the state, and the intricate workings of the Kerala administration. Crime & Investigative Journalism: Noted for his coverage of high-profile cases such as the gold smuggling probe, political killings, and the state’s counter-terrorism efforts regarding radicalization modules. Crisis Management: He has led ground-level reporting during major regional crises, including the devastating 2018 floods, the Nipah virus outbreaks, and the Covid-19 pandemic response. ... Read More
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