Chennai: True, he has promised good behaviour and wholesome support for the successor but then, the airport show of outgoing TNCC president Su. Thirunavukkarasar should make it clear for the Congress high command that the man is not going to take lightly his dethronement.
A huge flood of cars, most of them the SUVs of the politico class, swamped the international arrival terminal of the airport on Tuesday afternoon as the crowds of Thiru supporters brought from various parts of the state-mostly his native Pudukottai-paralysed the passenger traffic for almost an hour and showed how dismally weak the airport management is in managing such grossly unsocial conduct, on such huge scale.
It was a clear demonstration of political muscle in the typical Dravidian way and Su.Thiru must know it well down his long innings in multiple parties beginning in MGR's AIADMK.
Greeting the mass of his followers with a smug smile on his goggled face and the usual namaskaram, the man made a speech lasting 17 minutes to narrate how he had, during his audience with party president Rahul Gandhi at Delhi, pledged his total loyalty to the party "whether in position (as PCC president) or out of it"; and about his commitment to cooperate with the new PCC chief K S Alagiri and his team.
But for the Congress watchers in the state, who have been witnessing mostly internal squabbling for most of the time and very little growth in the party's rank and file over the years, Su.Thiru's airport show seemed a clear indication that the man is not just hurt after the sack order from the high command but also pretty much angry, notwithstanding the smile on the face and the verbal promise of support for the new PCC team.
"This is a clear signal from him that he should not be taken lightly, as someone who has been eased out quickly, and just like that. He wants to demonstrate his supporters base so that he gets his share of attention when the Congress tickets are decided for the (Lok Sabha) polls", said a Congress senior.
