Kochi: Senior Congress leader K V Thomas keeps the suspense over attending a seminar on the sidelines of the CPM's 23rd Party Congress taking place in Kannur.

The former Union minister said he will take a decision on whether to attend the programme on Thursday. He will meet media to announce his decision at 11 am on Thursday.

Thomas is apparently eager to attend the seminar even after the Congress high command, upholding the state leadership's decision, barred him twice from going to the CPM event.

Thomas has been invited to speak at a seminar on 'centre-state relations' at 5 pm on April 9 (Saturday). Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the seminar which will be presided over by CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

The organisers of the event have said Thomas and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin will attend the event.

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CPM Kannur district secretary M V Jayarajan on Wednesday said that the name of Thomas has been retained in the speakers' list as he has not informed the organisers about his inability to attend the event.

"Thomas has been invited to the seminar as a representative of the Congress. We have not invited him to join the CPM. The Congress is barring its leaders from attending the seminars due to its love for the BJP," he said.

The Congress high command had on Monday once again shot down the permission sought by Thomas to attend the seminar as part of the CPM Party Congress. Earlier, the AICC had advised Shashi Tharoor, MP, and Thomas to abide by the decision of the KPCC on the issue.

Following the AICC stand, Tharoor had officially announced that he would not participate. However, the CPM continued to express confidence that at least some Congress leaders would attend the seminar.

Thomas' argument

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Thomas also said that he was trying to get the high command's nod. “I have written seeking permission to attend the seminar," he told reporters. He was optimistic.

Thomas even saw his participation as part of attempts to mobilise a grand coalition of secular and opposition forces against the BJP. He said the CPM Party Congress was not a local event but a national one. He also argued that unlike in Kerala, the Congress and the CPM were not on the opposite sides of the divide nationally.

The AICC leadership, however, did not find any merit in the arguments of Thomas and asked him to toe the line of the state leadership. Congress' organisation secretary K C Venugopal has reportedly conveyed the high command's decision to Thomas.

KPCC unlikely to condone indiscipline 

The decision of Thomas to approach the AICC even after it had given its opinion is seen as a major slight by the state Congress leadership. Senior Congress leader and former KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran said that Congress leaders participating in the CPM seminar in defiance of the AICC ban would be an act of indiscipline.

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The KPCC had stated that sharing the stage with the CPM was unthinkable at a time when there were widespread protests against the SilverLine project. 

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