The Congress-led UDF Opposition also accused the ruling Left government and state police of not seriously treating the issue.
Published Aug 09, 2023 | 3:08 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 09, 2023 | 3:08 PM
Thomas K Thomas speaking at an event. (Facebook)
The Congress-led Opposition UDF in Kerala on Wednesday, 9 August, moved an adjournment notice in the state Assembly to discuss the alleged death threat to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Thomas K Thomas.
The UDF Opposition also accused the ruling LDF government and the state police of not treating the issue with due seriousness.
Speaker AN Shamseer denied permission for the motion after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the MLA’s complaint was received by the state police chief on 7 August and an investigation has been launched.
The chief minister also said that police have also taken steps to ensure adequate protection for him.
The UDF move came even as Thomas, who was removed from the NCP’s working committee following the complaint, said he had no grievance against the police or the government.
The NCP MLA also thanked the police for competent investigation into some cases lodged against him in the past that proved to be false.
“Therefore, I trust the police and the government,” he said in the Assembly.
In view of the denial of the permission for the adjournment motion, the UDF MLAs staged a walkout.
Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan, in his walkout speech, said that despite the MLA’s claims that in the past there were attempts to implicate him in false cases and even kill him, there has been no action till a complaint was lodged by Thomas recently.
Satheesan alleged that there were over three dozen instances of police lodging cases or not doing so based on who was involved in them.
He was responding to the chief minister’s claim that the police always took strict action without looking at who the accused was or whether they were influential persons.
“We, therefore, have no faith in the police. In the instant case, the police approach is lackadaisical,” Satheesan contended.
The adjournment notice was moved by several UDF MLAs, including M Vincent and KK Rema, alleging that the police and the state government were aware of the problems being faced by the NCP MLA, but no action was taken regarding that.
Thomas on Monday had alleged in his complaint that some members of his party have been planning to kill him in order to bring about by-election in the Kuttanad Assembly constituency in Alappuzha that he represented.
A day after his complaint, NCP chief Sharad Pawar removed Thomas from its working committee citing “serious indiscipline”.
The party high command had earlier expressed dissatisfaction over Thomas lodging a complaint with the state DGP alleging that there was a murder attempt on him by a local NCP leader, owing allegiance to the party’s state chief PC Chacko. Chacko rejected the “absurd” claim.
The move is seen as a continuation of the factional feud within the state unit of the party involving Forest Minister AK Saseendran and NCP state chief PC Chacko on one side, and Thomas, the party’s second MLA, on the other.
With 65-year-old Thomas, an agro-businessman from Kuttanad, staking claim for a ministerial post for the remaining tenure of the LDF government and expressing a lack of confidence in Chacko and Saseendran, the power struggle within the junior coalition partner had begun affecting the image of both the CPI(M) and LDF.
Both Saseendran and Thomas backed the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP in the power struggle in Maharashtra which saw the party split in its stronghold.
(With PTI inputs)
