Kerala-Kottayam: Veteran Kerala Congress leader and two-time former Lok Sabha member from Kottayam, Skaria Thomas, 73, passed away at a private hospital on Thursday, family sources said. Thomas was under treatment after he recovered from Covid-19.

Skaria Thomas was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kottayam in 1977 and 1980. He had lost the polls in 1984 to Suresh Kumar. Since then, he had made two unsuccessful attempts to enter the Kerala Assembly.

Thomas, who was part of the Kerala Congress (Mani), had moved to other factions before floating his own party viz. Kerala Congress (Skaria) in 2015.

His faction is an ally of the ruling CPI-M-led Left and at the time of his death, he was the chairman of the state public sector organisation, Kerala State Industrial Enterprises.

He formed his own party called the Kerala Congress (Scaria Thomas) in 2014 after he parted ways with Kerala Congress peer PC Thomas. The Kerala Congress (Scaria Thomas) faction came into existence as the duo opposed the merger of the Kerala Congress parties led by K M Mani and P J Joseph.

In the 1984 Lok Sabha election Thomas was stunned by CPM's fresh face Suresh Kurup. This was one of the two constituencies the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had lost then in Kerala, the other being Mavelikkara. Congress had won a landslide victory in this general election held soon after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

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