Ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls in Kerala, PC Thomas-led Kerala Congress which was part of the National Democratic Front (NDA), has quit the front. PC Thomas announced his decision to quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led front on Wednesday. Reportedly, PC Thomas is likely to join the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). Announcing the decision to quit, PC Thomas told the media that NDA had not even given a single seat for the party in Kerala. They had requested PC Thomas to contest from Pala but he denied citing personal reasons. However, no one else was offered a seat, ANI reports PC Thomas to have said.
Thomas said that his son was diagnosed with cancer and that in between his treatment, he won’t be able to focus on the election, explaining the reason he denied the seat offered to him. They denied us seats, which we had been requesting, he added. In the past Assembly polls, PC Thomas' party was given four seats by the NDA.
Meanwhile, there are reports that PC Thomas’s party will merge with the Kerala Congress (M)’s PJ Joseph faction which is with the UDF. Recently, the Election Commission had stated that the ‘two leaves’ symbol of the Kerala Congress (M) could be officially used by the rival Jose K Mani faction of the party. Some reports state that PJ Joseph and PC Thomas will merge to form a new party.
The Congress, which leads the UDF, had been facing severe internal tussles in the party ever since the candidate list was announced. Many district Congress Committee leaders had resigned from the party across the state, expressing displeasure with the candidate list. PC Chacko, who was a senior Congress leader, quit the party recently citing severe groupism within the party, and on Tuesday he joined the Nationalist Congress Party which is with the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
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