Cong expels rebel KV Thomas, hours after he shared stage with Kerala CM

KV Thomas had earlier attended a seminar organised as part of the CPI (M) party congress in April, in defiance of a party diktat.

The Congress on Thursday expelled rebel leader and former union minister KV Thomas for alleged anti-party activities, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran said, adding that the decision was taken with the consent of the All India Congress Committee.

Sources told PTI that Sudhakaran made the announcement in Rajasthan's Udaipur, where the Congress' three-day brainstorming session is underway. The party took action hours after Thomas shared the stage with Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan at a meeting on bypolls convened by the CPM-led Left Front in Kochi.

KV Thomas had said he would campaign for the ruling LDF candidate Jo Joseph in the upcoming by-poll in the Thrikkakara Assembly constituency. (HT Archives)

The senior AICC member, who had been at loggerheads with the party’s state leadership, on Wednesday said he would campaign for the ruling LDF candidate Jo Joseph in the upcoming by-poll in the Thrikkakara Assembly constituency.

He, however, had reiterated that he would not quit the Congress. Addressing a press conference in Kochi, he had said, "I am always a Congressman… I will neither quit the Congress nor join any other party. I am taking part in the LDF’s poll campaign also as a Congressman".

He had earlier attended a seminar organised as part of the CPI (M) party congress in April, in defiance of a party diktat.