KOCHI: KV Thomas, the veteran Congress leader who has been openly airing his unhappiness for being ‘ill-treated’ by the party leadership, has cancelled his news conference slated for Saturday, where he was expected to announce his future plans.Thomas told news persons that Congress president Sonia Gandhi called him and asked him to meet the Central leadership in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. “When Soniaji asks me to do something, I will obey as a disciplined party worker,” he said.
Thomas, a former union and state minister, will meet Ashok Gehlot, the AICC observer and Rajasthan CM, on Saturday in the state capital. Gehlot arrived in the state capital for a two-day visit on Friday.
Thomas will air his grievances to Gehlot and the latter is expected to give him a patient hearing to resolve the issue. It is learnt that Thomas may be offered the Congress working president’s post to retain him in the Congress camp. “At the moment, the Congress can’t afford to lose another leader when the elections are just over two months away,” said a source.
After being sidelined by the party, there were speculations that LDF will back him in Ernakulam Assembly seat if he contests as an independent in the Congress citadel. Three AICC observers to Kerala, including Gehlot, former Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro and former Karnataka deputy CM G Paremeswara, are on a two-day visit to Kerala from Friday.