CHENNAI: A week after violent clashes in Sathyamurthy Bhavan, the party headquarters in Chennai, fissures have widened in Tamil Nadu Congress with a group of top leaders demanding a change of guard in the state.
Senior leaders E V K S Elangovan, K V Thangkabalu, M Krishnaswamy as well as Tamil Nadu Congress legislative party leader K Selvaperunthagai met All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi on Sunday seeking replacement of TNCC president K S Alagiri.
Former TNCC chief Elangovan confirmed toTOI that they met Kharge and spoke about issues pertaining to Tamil Nadu Congress, but said it would not be appropriate for him to divulge more about the intra party discussions that transpired during meeting.
Party sources, however, said the four leaders expressed their dissatisfaction with Alagiri. “The leaders told Kharge that Alagiri has been helming TNCC for almost four years while there used to be a change in leadership every two years earlier,” said a source. The leaders also complained about Alagiri’s method of functioning. The delegation had pointed out that the BJP was aggressive in its politics in Tamil Nadu, but the Congress was not countering them adequately. The leaders had urged for someone, who can take on the BJP’s stridence.
One of the leaders in thedelegation had even proposed the name of a Congress MP from a central district to be made the next TNCC chief. Kharge, however, asked them not to raise the demand for leadership change for the time being but assured the leaders that he would inquire about other issues they had raised. The four leaders had also made attempts to meet Sonia Gandhi but were unable to meet her.
Meanwhile, TNCC treasurer Ruby Manoharan, who was summoned to appear before an inquiry committee on November 24 for the violence in Sathyamurthy Bhavan, had also met Kharge, along with P Viswanathan, AICC secretary in charge of Kerala. Viswanathan has been eyeing the post of TNCC president.
A Congress leader close to Alagiri said the TNCC chief would explain his position if and when the party’s high command seeks an explanation from him.
Senior leaders E V K S Elangovan, K V Thangkabalu, M Krishnaswamy as well as Tamil Nadu Congress legislative party leader K Selvaperunthagai met All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi on Sunday seeking replacement of TNCC president K S Alagiri.
Former TNCC chief Elangovan confirmed toTOI that they met Kharge and spoke about issues pertaining to Tamil Nadu Congress, but said it would not be appropriate for him to divulge more about the intra party discussions that transpired during meeting.
Party sources, however, said the four leaders expressed their dissatisfaction with Alagiri. “The leaders told Kharge that Alagiri has been helming TNCC for almost four years while there used to be a change in leadership every two years earlier,” said a source. The leaders also complained about Alagiri’s method of functioning. The delegation had pointed out that the BJP was aggressive in its politics in Tamil Nadu, but the Congress was not countering them adequately. The leaders had urged for someone, who can take on the BJP’s stridence.
One of the leaders in thedelegation had even proposed the name of a Congress MP from a central district to be made the next TNCC chief. Kharge, however, asked them not to raise the demand for leadership change for the time being but assured the leaders that he would inquire about other issues they had raised. The four leaders had also made attempts to meet Sonia Gandhi but were unable to meet her.
Meanwhile, TNCC treasurer Ruby Manoharan, who was summoned to appear before an inquiry committee on November 24 for the violence in Sathyamurthy Bhavan, had also met Kharge, along with P Viswanathan, AICC secretary in charge of Kerala. Viswanathan has been eyeing the post of TNCC president.
A Congress leader close to Alagiri said the TNCC chief would explain his position if and when the party’s high command seeks an explanation from him.
