Kerala: The Kerala government Thursday appointed former Congress leader and Union minister K.V. Thomas as its special representative in New Delhi. The decision came after a cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was held earlier in the day.
Former Lok Sabha MP A. Sampath had held the post from August 2019. The main task of a special representative of the state, which is a non-bureaucratic position, is to be the bridge between the Centre and the state. The person in charge is also entrusted with the task of accelerating activities of the state government in the national capital.
Thomas was expelled from the Congress last year for alleged anti-party activities. The veteran politician was in May, 2020 seen sharing a stage with CM Vijayan in a LDF by-poll convention held in Thrikkakara.
Speaking about this new opportunity, Thomas told ThePrint, “I got an experience of about 50 years in Delhi. I have been a member of Parliament for 22 years and I have a good personal relationship with everybody irrespective of the political differences.”
“This is a decision by the CM and LDF and they want to use my relationship with Delhi and the communities in Kerala and that is being made use of by LDF,” he added.
The Kerala Congress, however, lashed out at Thomas’s elevation. The party’s state unit chief, K. Sudhakaran, told ThePrint, “CPM in Kerala and the sangh parivar in Delhi are having an unholy nexus. Thomas has a very nexus with the BJP leaders and so he will act as a liaison officer between the Kerala CPM and sangh parivar leaders in Delhi. After leaving Congress, he has been in very good touch with many BJP leaders in Bengaluru and Delhi.”
Sudhakaran, stating that there is already a full-fledged set-up for the state government in Delhi, said Thomas’s posting will “only add more liability to the exchequer at a time when the state’s fiscal situation is vulnerable”.
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