Senior Congress leader KV Thomas, facing disciplinary enquiry in connection with his participation in the 23rd party congress of the CPI(M) in Kannur recently, on Monday, April 18, said not inviting him to the KPCC's political affairs meeting indicated a move to push him out of the party. Thomas, speaking to reporters in Kochi, said that since 2018, there has been a move to keep him out of the party and this was evident from the fact that he was not invited to the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee's (KPCC) meeting held on Monday.
"I was not invited to the meeting. Why? I only received a show-cause notice. This stand (of KPCC) is against the AICC which only has the power to remove me from the party," the veteran politician said. There are many in the party for whom I am a headache, he claimed. Asked whether he still believed he was right to attend the CPI(M) party congress, Thomas said, "No doubt about it."
He said the Congress cannot on its own take on the BJP in the next general Assembly elections in 2024 and it needs to join together with other parties, like the CPI(M). He said it was because of this viewpoint that he had attended the CPI(M) party congress and there is no change in that.
Earlier, Congress leaders in Kerala had contended that Thomas had "betrayed" and "cheated" the party by attending the event in Kannur. Both Shashi Tharoor and Thomas were invited by the CPI(M) to attend the seminar on Centre-State relations as part of its 23rd Party Congress which commenced on April 6 and concluded on April 10.
Thomas had held senior posts including that of Union Minister when the Congress was in power at the Union government and in the state.