The Kerala Congress faction headed by former Union Minister PC Thomas, a minor partner in the State’s CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF, effectively split on Monday with one section of the party removing Thomas as chairman of the party. He said the removal was in violation of the party’s constitution.
PC Thomas was removed as party chairman by a meeting of those who opposed him at Kottayam on Monday. The meeting also elected Scaria Thomas, who was working chairman so far, as the new chairman of the party. Former MlA V Surendran Pillai will continue as working chairman while election of the remaining members of the State committee will be held later.
“The decision to remove the chairman has been taken without the party’s information. The party’s State committee is meeting in Kottayam tomorrow (Tuesday). The meeting itself is invalid as per the party’s constitution. It is a joke that Scaria Thomas, who doesn’t even know the names of the party’s district presidents, is removing me as chairman,” PC Thomas said.
PC Thomas had become a Minister of State in the first NDA Government following his election as MP from Muvattupuzha after his departure from the Kerala Congress (M), a major partner in the Congress-led UDF.
After that he dissolved his party, IFDP, to join hands with the Kerala Congress (J) led by PJ Joseph, then a partner of the lDF. When Joseph decided to leave the lDF and join the UDF by merging his party with the Kerala Congress (M), PC Thomas stood up against the merger thus qualifying to continue as a partner in the lDF in the name of “anti-merger Kerala Congress”. The lDF had given three seats to the party to contest in the last Assembly polls but it lost all the three.
The lDF recently decided to keep the anti-merger Kerala Congress away from it after PC Thomas and Scaria Thomas locked horns over certain issues, the details of which are not well known.