Wayalaying of Keralam CM: KV Thomas withdraws action against Cong. leader

Former Congress leader KV Thomas withdrew police action against a local Congress leader in Thiruvananthapuram for allegedly blocking Chief Minister VD Satheesan’s convoy and misbehaving with him.

Drawing a parallel between the incident that led to the arrest of Anilkumar, alias Chenthi Anil, and the clash that took place during an event attended by then Chief Minister K. Karunakaran, Mr. Thomas questioned Mr. Satheesan for allegedly having his own party worker arrested for protesting against him.

“Is the protest against Chembazhanthi anything close to what the ‘reformists’ did to K. Karunakaran when he was Chief Minister?” asked Mr. Thomas in a social media post, reminding Mr. Satheesan that he is not only the Chief Minister but also a Congress leader.

The former Union minister was referring to the alleged clash between a group of Congress workers and plainclothes police at a religious harmony event in Ernakulam attended by Karunakaran, Oommen Chandy and other senior Congress leaders. The event was organized by the Ernakulam District Congress Committee when Mr. Thomas was its president, he said.

Mr Thomas said the meeting had to be dispersed after supporters of reformist groups allegedly caused a ruckus on purpose. He said though the then police commissioner wanted to register a case against those who caused trouble, Karunakaran dissuaded him. “They are all Congress employees. Such things happen. There is no need to register a case,” Mr Thomas Karunakaran was quoted as saying.

He said that Karunakaran’s attitude matched that of a leader.

Mr Anilkumar, a former member of the Thiruvananthapuram District Congress Committee, was expelled from the party on Saturday (August 29, 2026) after he and a group of people allegedly blocked Mr Satheesan’s convoy for allegedly refusing to attend the Sree Narayana Guru Jayanti celebrations planned in Chenthi. The incident occurred when the Chief Minister was on his way to Sree Narayana Gurukulam in Chempazhanthy for Jayanti celebrations on Friday (August 28, 2026) evening.

Published – 30 Aug 2026 01:08 IST