The Congress national leadership has reportedly moved quickly to purge ‘dissident’ veteran K. V. Thomas from the party’s primary membership. All India Congress Committee (AICC) has purportedly issued Prof. Thomas a notice to show cause why the party should not expel him for attending a Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] seminar in flagrant violation of the high command's diktat. An insider said the notice was the precursor of imminent disciplinary action.
The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) had initiated the punitive move after Mr. Thomas attended a seminar on ‘challenges to federalism’ held in connection with the CPI(M)‘s 23rd party congress in Kannur.
At the venue, Prof. Thomas ‘heaped effusive praise’ on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and ‘endorsed’ his political and economic agenda while remaining silent on ‘CPI(M)‘ violence that had claimed the life of scores of Congress workers in Kannur. Prof. Thomas, it seemed, appeared to risk becoming a despised figure among Congress activists overnight.
