Senior Kerala Congress leader C F Thomas no more

(Eds: rpting after deleting words in 1st para)
Kottayam (Ker), Sep 27 (PTI) Senior Kerala Congress leader
and Changanassery MLA C F Thomas died at a private hospital in
Thiruvalla on Sunday, party sources said here.
He was 81.
He had been undergoing treatment for some ailments, they
said.
Thomas, who had been representing Changanassery
constituency in the Assembly since 1980 without any break, was
also the Minister for Rural Development, Registration, Khadi
and Village Industries in the Congress-led UDF government
during its 2001-2006 tenure.
He was a close confidante of late Kerala Congress (M)
leader K M Mani.
Thomas got associated with the P J Joseph faction in the
Kerala Congress(M) due to the rift between two groups in the
party following Mani's death in April last year.
Commencing his political activities while he was a
student, Thomas joined the Indian National Congress and then
became Vice-President of Changanassery Town (West) Mandalam.
He joined Kerala Congress on its formation and rose in
the party ranks.
He also held the post of state General Secretary and
Chairman of Kerala Congress (M). PTI TGB APR
RAVINDRANATH
APR
RAVINDRANATH

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)