If the Congress decides to oust senior leader K.V. Thomas from the party on account of his decision to take part in a seminar on Centre-State relations organised by the CPI(M) as part of its ongoing ‘23rd Party Congress’, he will not be left in the lurch, CPI(M) Kannur district secretary M.V. Jayarajan said on Thursday.
Mr. Jayarana told the media outside the Party Congress venue that his party had not allowed anyone who left the Congress disenchanted with its policies to rot on the wayside.
“It is unfortunate that the Congress feels that Mr. Thomas deserves to be expelled. We just invited him to take part in a seminar on an issue of extreme contemporary relevance. But the Congress has fallen to such a level that it feels appropriate to oust someone for his participation in a seminar,” he said.
Mr. Jayarajan added that the CPI(M) had not had any other discussions with Mr. Thomas. Using a metaphor of matrimony, he said so long as Mr. Thomas said no to his participation in the seminar, the CPI(M) would stay hopeful he would take part in it.
It was a foolish decision on the part of the Congress to announce that anyone who took part in the seminar would be ousted. The seminar, he said, was on the blows to federalism dealt by the BJP Government at the Centre.
The seminar on April 9 is slated to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and CPI(M) Kerala State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan are also slated to attend it.
