The TNCC got a shot in the arm when the non-agenarian Karunanidhi, the DMK chief, gave the entire credit for stopping the Coca Cola plant at Erode to the relentless agitation staged by Elangovan and the Congress. Elangoval will lead the party cadre to Raj Bhavan on this Saturday to submit a chargesheet against the AIADMK Government which according to him is fully enmeshed in corruption.
“This is the first massive demonstration and rally the TNCC is holding in Chennai in the recent times,” said A Gopanna, chief spokesman, TNCC. Elangovan said that the charge sheet consists of details of “misdeeds and massive corruptions” committed by 15 Ministers in the Panneerselvam Government. “Tamil Nadu has not seen corruption of this magnitude in its history,” he told The Pioneer. The TNCC chief said that Chief Minister O Panneerselvan has lost the grip over the state administration. “He does not know what is happening,” said Elangovan.
Elangovan’s major achievement as TNCC chief was getting the Government to cancel the proposed Rs500 crore manufacturing facility of Hindustan Coca Cola which was coming up in Erode district. The locals were staging a demonstration against the plant which they alleged would destroy the environment and spoil the ground water.
Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the DMK stage, had no hesitation in congratulating Elangovan for leading the Coca Cola agitation in spite of all odds. last week the Tamil Nadu Government cancelled the licence to the Coca Cola plant and took back the 70 acres of land it had allotted to the cola company. The fact that TNCC has undergone a change under Elangovan was substantiated by N Kalyanasundaram, chronicler of Tamil Nadu politics since early 1960s. “Elangovan is getting good support from party High Command and there is active participation at ground level by workers of the party,” he said.. The walk out staged by K Vasan and the formation of Tamil Manila Congress has in no way affected the Congress, according to Gopanna.