Chennai: The elections are over and the factional feud is back in Tamil Nadu Congress. The Chidambaram faction has launched its usual offensive against rival G.K. Vasan, less than a fortnight after the party drew a blank.
In a joint statement, several PC loyalists have demanded the immediate resignation of TNCC chief B.S. Gnanandesikan owning moral responsibility to the poll debacle. Gnanadesikan, one of close confidants and nominee of Vasan, they alleged, had acted in a partisan manner in providing required support to candidates announced by the Congress national leadership.
And it did not stop there. They even faulted the lawyer-party chief Gnanadesikan for not organising even rallies, coordinating with leaders and convening the state executive and general council of the party. The statement undersigned by ex-MP Vallal Peruman, Karate Thiagarajan and executive committee member R.S. Senthil Kumar had the names of 13 district presidents, four state general secretaries and nearly a dozen state executive council members, including Chidmabaram junior, who emerged fourth in his native Sivagangai constituency.
Vasan loyalists were in no mood to take the accusations lightly. Equally strong in his reaction, an infuriated Vasan supporter who holds a key post in TNCC wondered if the Chidambaram camp would also demand Sonia and Rahul’s resignation for the poll rout.
Accusing the PC faction of not cooperating with the state leadership and trying to gain backdoor entry to the TN Congress leadership, the senior leader asked as to how many seats did Chidambaram senior campaign actively in other than his son’s Sivagangai constituency.
When asked, a reluctant Gnanadesikan told Deccan Chronicle that minister Chidambaram even did not reply to his March 2014 letter seeking to know the constituencies they could campaign for the Lok Sabha polls.
“If they had any qualms about my handling of the elections, they should have taken up the issue with the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and not the media. It is regrettable that they went public and tarnished the party image,” he remarked adding that some of the names mentioned in the statement were unwilling to second their opinion and they were in touch with him.
