TRIVANDRUM, 1 July — Kerala Congress (Mani) parliamentarian P.C. Thomas has launched a frontal attack on party supremo K.M. Mani, contending that Mani had ordered his suspension from the party to settle personal scores. Thomas was suspended on Friday for alleged anti-party activities.
At issue, he says, was the denial of the party ticket to Mani’s son, Jose K. Mani, for the assembly elections in May. Thomas is the lone MP of the Kerala Congress (Mani) in the Lok Sabha (lower house). “He (Mani) thinks it is me who was behind the whole plot to see that a seat was denied to his son. Actually, I was never against his candidature,” Thomas told reporters yesterday. “Mani, right till the end, maintained that his son was not a candidate, but just days before the nominations were to close, his son’s name was heard in at least three constituencies,” said Thomas.
Thomas, a five-term MP, is the son of Kerala Congress founder P.T. Chacko. Today there are four factions of the Kerala Congress and all except one of them are part of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) in the state. Thomas has denied that he would be forming his own faction of the Kerala Congress. Even so, there are reports of a realignment.“Mani is the common enemy of all the three groups, so don’t be surprised if we go under one roof,” said a leader of one of the factions. “I tried to clear his (Mani’s) doubts and tried to meet him on three or four occasions, but Mani by that time had dismissed me from his mind and this discussion could never take place.”
Referring to a secret poll alliance between his party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the local bodies elections in November, Thomas said the deal had been masterminded by Mani. “As a party worker I also took part in the discussions and the victory of a lady candidate at Kurupunthura in Kottayam district was the direct outcome of the deal with the BJP,” said Thomas.
