Senior Kerala Congress leader C.F. Thomas passes away

He was a Minister in the Congress-led UDF government during its 2001-2006 tenure.

Changanassery MLA and veteran Kerala Congress leader C.F. Thomas

KOTTAYAM 

Senior Kerala Congress leader and Changanassery MLA C.F. Thomas passed away at a private hospital in Thiruvalla on Sunday. He was 81.

Thomas was under treatment for prolonged illness and breathed his last at around 9.45 a.m. His mortal remains are kept at the hospital and the funeral details will be decided later.

Thomas has been representing Changanassery constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly since 1980. He also served as Rural Development Minister during A.K. Antony and Oommen Chandy Ministries between 2001and 2006. Regarded as a strong loyalist of KC(M) founder leader K.M. Mani, he, however, stood by the P.J. Joseph faction of KC(M) after Mani’s death.

Born to C.T. Francis and Annamma in Chennikkara family at Changanassery on July 30, 1939, Thomas entered mainstream politics through the Kerala Students Union (KSU) and became part of Kerala Congress since its inception in 1964. He held the posts of KC(M) chairman and deputy chairman, among others, during his more than six decades-long political career. He had also worked as a teacher at St Berchman’s Higher Secondary School in Changanassery for a brief period.

 Thomas was elected as a legislator from Changanassery in 1980, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016.

After the merger of three Kerala Congress groups in 2010, he had served as its deputy chairman.