P.C. Thomas, leader of the Kerala Congress faction aligned with the Left Democratic Front (LDF), has quit the coalition. The future course of action will be decided later, Mr. Thomas said. Mr. Thomas has been finding himself cornered as the three other senior leaders, Scaria Thomas, V. Surendran Pillai and George Sebastian, had joined hands to oust him from the chairmanship.
To add insult to the injury, the LDF leadership had asked Mr. Thomas to keep away from representing his party on the LDF State committee. Mr. Thomas and his supporters were in a state of flux since November.
The State committee of the splinter group that supported Mr. Thomas in the internal strife in the KC faction met here on Thursday and decided to quit the coalition and authorised Mr. Thomas to chalk out the future course of action.
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The meeting criticised the CPI(M), though not by name, for supporting the ‘rebels’ within his party. It also said that official representatives of the party on the LDF State committee were asked to keep away while accepting the ‘self proclaimed’ new leadership. There had been no discussion within the LDF regarding the issue.
With future consultations in sight, Mr. Thomas had floated a secular platform in the form of a new suggestion on the need to present an agriculture budget for the nation, just like the railway budget. Mr Thomas, who has been championing this idea for quite some time, would align with those who support him on this demand.