Thiruvananthapuram, April 10 (BPNS)
General Secretary (Organisation) of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) , K.C. Venugopal has said that the party disciplinary action committee led by senior leader A.K. Antony will recommend action against Prof. K.V. Thomas. The AICC general secretary was speaking to reporters at Kannur on Sunday.
Venugopal said that the final decision on the basis of a recommendation from the disciplinary committee will be taken by AICC president Sonia Gandhi.
He said that K.V. Thomas is a member of the party All India Committee and action against him has to be taken by the party president on the recommendation of the disciplinary committee.
It is to be noted that Congress leaders from Kerala have been calling for the immediate removal of Thomas from the party following his participation in a seminar on Center-state relations held as part of the 23rd party Congress of the CPM.
KPCC president K. Sudhakaran, Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan, former opposition leader, Ramesh Chennithala, and several leaders had called for the immediate removal of K.V.Thomas from the party.
The CPM has as part of its 23rd party Congress invited Dr. Shashi Tharoor and Prof. K.V. Thomas to participate in the seminar on Centre, State relations. The KPCC immediately informed both the leaders not to participate and even the AICC president Sonia Gandhi intervened in the matter and told the leaders not to participate in it. While Shashi Tharoor backed out, K.V.Thomas decided to go ahead with the seminar.
Thomas while participating in the seminar on Saturday showered praises on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and said that he was supportive of the controversial K- Rail project of the LDF government of Kerala against which the opposition Congress has been relentlessly campaigning.
Immediately after the seminar, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, K. Sudhakaran shot off a letter to Sonia Gandhi recommending removal of K.V.Thomas from the party.
K.C. Venugopal while speaking to BPNS said, “Congress is an All India party and in local issues, the party listens to the recommendations of the state leadership. In Kerala, the Congress is engaged in a bitter political fight with the CPM, and a Congress leader attending a CPM seminar will give the wrong message to the society and party cadres. Also, the CPM should have given an invitation to the Congress party and it was the party that should recommend the name of the participants in the seminar.”
He also said that even in Telangana the local Congressmen are against K.Chandrashekara Rao and his TRS and the AICC while taking a decision on Telangana always takes the opinion of the local leadership.
