Will campaign for LDF candidate in Thrikkakara: Congress' KV Thomas

Kochi: Senior Congress leader from Kerala KV Thomas announced on Wednesday that he would campaign for LDF candidate in Thrikkakara Assembly seat, issuing an offensive at the Congress state leadership. Addressing a press conference in Kochi, he, however, reiterated that he would not quit the party, PTI reported.

"I am always a Congressman... I will neither quit the Congress nor join any other party. I am taking part in the LDF's poll campaign also as a Congressman," Thomas said, who and the state Congress are having a sour spell at the moment.

He added that he has decided to join the CPI(M)'s election convention, which will be attended by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who challenged state Congress to kick him out of the party.

According to him, he always batted for development, and his position was the same in Thrikkakara too. The success or failure of the LDF candidate does not matter regarding his pro-development stand. Mentioning former chief ministers K Karunakaran and AK Antony, who had worked for the Left in their careers, he said he would not be the first to campaign for a Left candidate from his party.

Further, he alleged that the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) had tried to kick him out firm the party in 2018. There are paid teams working on social media to campaign against him, he said, making a veiled attack on KPCC head K Sudhakaran, PTI reported.

Thomas's announcement had stirred the Congress, and AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal stated that strict action would be taken against him.

He said that PCCs have the power to act against those working against party candidates and added that KPCC could decide on the action to be taken against Thomas, and AICC would back it. Further, he said that Thomas' statement that he would remain a Congress man while working for CPI(M) turned out to be "funny".

Last month, a disciplinary panel's recommendation to remove Thomas from the state political affairs and the executive committee of KPCC was approved by national party president Sonia Gandhi. This was after KPCC president K Sudhakaran's complaint against Thomas seeking action against him for attending CPI(M)'s party congress held in Kannur, despite the party's orders.

But Thomas defended himself, saying that he attended the event because he was threatened that if he did so, he would be removed from the party. He not only attended the event against Congress' orders but also praised Pinarayi Vijayan and his developmental agenda, promising full support to the ruling LDF government's flagship semi-high-speed rail corridor project, which the Congress opposes tooth and nail.