"This is no surprise to me because for a few weeks this was in the air. Thomas's family has close relations with a former Lok Sabha member and a CPI-M fellow traveller and the first round of talks for this took place. The deal for his switching sides was finalised by a very senior CPI-M former minister clinched the deal," a senior party leader from Pathanamthitta told IANS.
The CPI-M had Wednesday finalised the decision to field popular comedian and character artiste Innocent from Chalakudy and also former Gujarat IAS official and former secretary to then president Prathiba Patel.
