KOCHI: Dissident Congress leader K V Thomas has challenged his party to expel him saying that he would announce his plans to campaign for the CPM candidate in Thrikkakara on Monday.
"They (Congress leaders in Kerala) have completely ignored and isolated me during the discussions for the party candidate in Thrikkakara. Let them expel me," he told The New Indian Express on Saturday. "I'm holding a press conference at my home in Thoppumpady on May 9 (Monday) to announce my plans to campaign for the Left candidate," said Thomas, who was removed from all party posts for attending a CPM seminar at its 23rd Party Congress in Kannur last month.
"The disciplinary committee headed by AK Antony retained me as an AICC member. Despite that, the KPCC did not invite me to any of its discussions on the selection of the Congress candidate in Thrikkakara. (VD) Satheesan says he talked to 40 senior Congress leaders, before recommending Uma (Uma Thomas, wife of PT Thomas, the sitting MLA at Thrikkakara, whose demise necessitated the bypoll). But he never bothered to call me. So, there's no point in sticking with the Congress election campaign," he said.
He said Uma, the Congress candidate in Thrikkakara, called him and his wife and said she would come and seek his blessings. "We told her that we would come and meet her, and there was no need for her to come to our house. But now I'm told that she has been restrained from talking or meeting us," the 75-year-old leader, who served as a Union minister in Manmohan Singh's second UPA government, said.
The CPM had invited Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Thomas to attend a seminar organised as part of its 23rd Party Congress last month (April 6-10) in Kannur. The topic of discussion was Centre-state relations. They were to share the stage with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan. However, following KPCC President K Sudhakaran's directive, Tharoor backed out from the conference while Thomas defied the party leadership and attended the event.
Asked about the speculation that he was being offered the Chairman post of the Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission by the Left government, Thomas said, "I've been offered no such posts. They (Congress leaders) are spreading such a misinformation campaign just to belittle me. They were also saying that I'm pushing the candidature of my daughter (Rekha Thomas). This is part of their disinformation campaign," he said.
Thomas warned that the UDF/Congress is slowly losing Ernakulam district, which has been its stronghold, to the Left. "The party has lost the Kochi constituency, the Kalamassery constituency, and Thrikkakara too is under threat," he said. The Congress is also losing the support of the church and the Christian community, he said. "The CPM candidate in Thrikkakara Dr Jo Joseph is a Syrian Catholic, his wife is a Latin Catholic. This is also likely to impact the voters," he reckoned.