Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Saturday sought an explanation from senior party leader KV Thomas for reportedly praising prime minister Narendra Modi. However, Thomas said he was misquoted.
As per the reports, the former union minister hailed the PM while speaking at the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Kerala Management Association in Ernakulam on Friday.
The reports quoted Thomas as saying: "Modi is a good administrator who is able to convince others of his actions." The reports said that Thomas felt more comfortable dealing with Modi than the leaders in his own party.
However, Thomas, who represents the Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency, said he had not praised Modi as a good administrator.
"He (Modi) is not a good administrator," Thomas said in a statement, a day after he reportedly mentioned at a function here that he was comfortable with the prime minister, an able administrator who could convince others about his decisions.
"What I said was... many of his (Modi's) administrative decisions like demonetisation, GST have gone wrong, but he was able to manage (the situation) with his management skills," the former Union minister said.
Thomas, the former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, alleged that Modi, using his management skills, was able to manage the media and even the judiciary.
"That is a bad situation," he said.
Talking to reporters here, the Congress MP slammed the BJP-led central government for the disruptions witnessed in the second half of the Budget session of Parliament, calling it a 'government-sponsored stalling".
"In the second half of the Budget Session, it was the government that persuaded and managed the stalling of the House, using its allies on different issues like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu," he alleged.
Thomas also described the prime minister's day-long fast on Thursday against Parliament disruptions as a 'drama'.
Read more: Latest Kerala news