KV Thomas retains Congress on edge

By Express News Service
KOCHI: Amid hypothesis of veteran Congress chief KV Thomas’ possible change to the rival LDF camp, political analysts are of the view that this might effectively be a tactic by the five-time MP to place stress on the Congress excessive command. According to them, with a number of Congress leaders deserting the occasion on the nationwide stage, the excessive command desires to avert an analogous state of affairs in Kerala no less than and this will need to have additionally prompted the academic-turned-politico. 

Thomas mentioned he’ll convene a presser on Saturday to announce his determination. But he remained tight-lipped on the speculations.The relationship between Okay V Thomas, who was broadly thought to be a member of Sonia Gandhi’s internal circle, and the Congress excessive command turned frosty after he was denied renomination for the Ernakulam Lok Sabha seat.

A miffed Thomas, who was not eager to contest the meeting polls, demanded a key organisational publish like that of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president. However, with the occasion turning down his demand for an organisational publish for the meeting polls, he had hinted on leaving the Congress.

Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed stories that the CPM is able to again Thomas if he’s contesting the polls. In the meeting bypoll, the CPM had fielded unbiased  Manu Roy who misplaced to  T J Vinodh of the UDF by a margin of three,673 votes. Though Ernakulam is called a UDF stronghold, if the CPM backs Thomas, issues can flip troublesome for Congress, regardless of him contesting as a Left-backed unbiased.“Especially in Ernakulam, where Latin Catholic votes have a say,  it is not a bad idea for them. But we think ‘mash’ (Thomas) is just applying pressure tactics. He won’t actually join the LDF,” mentioned a Congress insider.

A ROLE REVERSAL?T’Puram: Back in 2016, when the then UDF authorities was going to polls, it was evident that Chandy was on the helm. The LDF, which had each Pinarayi Vijayan after which Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan main the marketing campaign, was reluctant to call a CM candidate. When LDF got here to energy, Pinarayi was named the CM, whereas VS was accommodated as chair of the Administrative Reforms Commission. This time round, there’s a job reversal. For the ruling Left, there’s little doubt Pinarayi would lead the marketing campaign. But the UDF goes ahead with a collective management — with each Chandy and Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala main the marketing campaign.