Recently, PC Thomas of the splinter Kerala Congress faction left the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and had merged with another Kerala Congress leader P J Joseph’s faction. In the NDA, Thomas’ faction was not allotted any seats and by the time he joined hands with Joseph, UDF had finished allotting all the seats. Though they had begun talks six months ago, it came to fruition only on March 17.
Thomas had represented Muvattupuzha Lok Sabha constituency for six terms from 1989 to 2009 and was part of Kerala Congress (Mani) group, a former ally of the UDF. In 2004, he got elected to the Lok Sabha as an NDA candidate from Kerala.
Edited excerpts of the interview:
