Kerala Congress rebels �expel� Joseph

KOTTAYAM: Kerala Congress (Joseph) rebels under the leadership of former MP and party secretary general P.C. Thomas, has �expelled party chairman P.J. Joseph at a meeting of the �State Committee� held here on Friday for what they termed �gross indiscipline. The meeting, through the same resolution, elected Mr. Thomas in his place.

The rebels� move comes in the wake of the scheduled merger of the party with the Kerala Congress (M) only hours before the commencement of a crucial meeting of the party State Committee scheduled by the official leadership.

The resolution passed by voice vote noted that for the past 20 years the party had continued as a responsible member of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and had shared power whenever the coalition had come to power. No new developments have emerged in the near past which had necessitated a rethink in the affiliation to the coalition. As such the party would continue to be a member of the LDF, the resolution noted