Thiruvananthapuram | Keralam Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday said he had forgiven expelled Congress leader Anil Kumar, who was recently arrested for allegedly blocking his convoy and behaving improperly after the CM skipped a programme organised by him.

Satheesan said he had no grudge against Kumar and felt that the leader had become "the bigger person" by apologising after coming out of jail.

"When he apologised to me, he became the bigger person and I became the smaller one. That is how I felt. So, I forgave him as well. I have no grudge against him," Satheesan said while responding to reporters at a press conference here.

Kumar was arrested recently for allegedly blocking the chief minister's official convoy while Satheesan was on his way to attend a function.

According to police, Kumar and others had allegedly blocked the convoy demanding that Satheesan attend an event organised by them, though the programme was not part of the chief minister's accepted list of engagements.

The Congress subsequently initiated disciplinary action against Kumar and removed him from the party.

Satheesan had earlier clarified that he cancelled his participation in a Sree Narayana Jayanti programme at Chenthi here two weeks ago after being informed that it was being organised by a person with a "criminal background".

The chief minister had said he had initially been invited to the programme, but local party workers informed him about the organiser's criminal background. He subsequently received a police report and decided to drop the event.

After being granted bail by a local court last week, Kumar had expressed regret over his remarks and apologised to the chief minister.

"I said several inappropriate things in the heat of the moment, and I deeply regret it. I did not expect the matter to escalate like this. I understand that my remarks have hurt the chief minister as well and so I apologise to him. If I get an opportunity, I will personally apologise to him," Kumar had said.

After being granted bail by a local court last week, Kumar had expressed regret over his remarks and apologised to the chief minister.

"I said several inappropriate things in the heat of the moment, and I deeply regret it. I did not expect the matter to escalate like this. I understand that my remarks have hurt the chief minister as well and so I apologise to him. If I get an opportunity, I will personally apologise to him," Kumar had said.