Kochi (Kerala) [India], April 12 (ANI): Following Congress issuing a showcause notice to senior party leader KV Thomas, Kerala state Congress chief K Sudhakaran on Monday said Thomas' action is tantamount to betraying the party.

The Congress Disciplinary Committee on Monday had sent notice to KV Thomas for his public conduct against the party lines in recent times.

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"He has been given a week to reply. I was the one who tried to bring him back and prevent him from going to the seminar. I had even spoken to him the day before he was going to the seminar. I had requested him not to go. Can he obey everything the CPIM says? He is a man who does not obey what the party says," Sudhakaran told mediapersons here.

"The CPIM is a fascist political movement that is leading Kerala to collapse. The position of Congress party is that its (CPIM) platform should not be used by Congressmen. That is why the party blocked him. Thomas's action is tantamount to betraying the party. He can now be seen as the man who betrayed the party," added the Kerala Congress chief.

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KV Thomas, defying the party's decision, attended a seminar organised by the CPI-M in Kannur over which Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President K Sudhakaran wrote to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi demanding "strict and befitting disciplinary action" against him.

Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor, who was also invited for the seminar obeyed the order of the party leadership and declined the invitation to the seminar. Congress reconstituted this committee in view of the cases of "indiscipline" coming to the fore in the party. The grand old party has appointed senior leader and former Defence Minister AK Antony as its president of the committee. (ANI)

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