Chennai: Joining the rest of the PCCs across the country making similar request to the Prince in the party, the Tamil Nadu Congress unit on Saturday urged its national president Rahul Gandhi to contest from “any seat” in the state and be assured of a mammoth win.
Making a strong plea to the party boss to sign up as a candidate from a TN seat, besides his usual Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, TNCC president K S Alagiri said Rahul should also select a seat from TN as he cannot be perceived as belonging to just the northern state but be “seen as an asset of the people of India”.
Besides, it was in TN that he was first proposed as the next Prime Minister by none other than DMK chief M K Stalin (at a function to unveil the late Karunanidhi's statue at the DMK headquarters in December last year), said Alagiri, adding that the DMK-led secular alliance has the full support of the people in the state.
“In this backdrop, on behalf of the state Congress unit and the people, I request Mr Rahul Gandhi to contest from any one of the Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu. I am sure the (DMK-led) Secular Progressive Alliance will extend grand support to this plea,” Alagiri said in a statement, arguing that Rahul was “acceptable” to the people as a leader beyond religion and caste and therefore, cannot be considered as “belonging only to Uttar Pradesh”.
“He is considered as an asset of the people of India. He enjoys the goodwill of all and has dedicated himself to the cause of unity. While contesting from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in the north, he should also contest from any one of the seats in Tamil Nadu, which is the southern part of the country,” he said, expressing confidence that Rahul would heed to the plea of the TN people.
By doing so, Rahul Gandhi will be seen as a leader “connecting the north and south,” and receive grand public support, Alagiri added.
The TNCC chief also flayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “failing” to keep up his promises on several issues, including retrieving black money from foreign havens and doubling farmers' income, and dubbed the AIADMK-led NDA coalition in the state, which includes the BJP, as “opportunistic”.
Meanwhile, the TNCC said it has received 249 applications from candidates aspiring for the nine parliamentary constituencies the party is contesting in Tamil Nadu. Applications have also been received from party workers, asking Rahul Gandhi to contest from Sivaganga, Virudhunagar and Kanyakumari, it said in a release.
