Count down has begun for the removal of S Thirunavakarassar from the post of the president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee following his Saturday spat with former union minister EVKS Elangovan. Speaking to reporters at New Delhi, Thirunavakarassar had said that he does not mind if the Congress High Command removes him from the post of TNCC chief. “But I’ll never allow Elangovan to be appointed as the new chief,” he said.
Thirunavakarassar’s reaction came immediately after his meeting with former Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi where he had gone to greet her on her birthday. Elangovan, who too was in New Delhi, told The Pioneer that he does not give any importance to what Thirunavakarassar said because all decisions in the Congress party are taken by the party president. “Whether Thirunavakarassar has to be removed from the post or a new person has to be appointed in his place are matters to be decided by the all India president of the party. So I do not want to comment on his outburst,” said Elangovan.
Elangovan, a former union minister, also said that the party cadre in the State were upset over the style of functioning of Thirunavakarassar. “Sathyamurthy Bhavan in Chennai (head quarters of the TNCC) should not have been used by him to organise meetings in memory of MG Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. If he wanted to pay respects to them, he should have done it outside the TNCC office. He knows well that the Congress has excellent rapport with the DMK and hence should not have done so. I questioned this and he got angry,” said Elangovan.
MK Stalin, president, DMK called on Congress leader Sonia Gandhi at her New Delhi office on Sunday to greet her on her birthday. He formally invited Sonia Gandhi for the December 16 function to be held at Chennai to unveil the statue of former party chief Karunanidhi. The DMK president was accompanied by his step sister Kanimozhi and her friend A Raja besides TR Balu.
There are reports that Thirunavakarassar would soon be removed from the post of TNCC chief in the backdrop of Stalin’s meeting with Sonia Gandhi. It is an open secret that Stalin does not get along with Thirunavakarassar. “The Congress High Command may prefer someone who has good relations with the DMK president to head the State unit at this time because of the upcoming Lok Sabha election,” said KA Johny, writer and commentator. He also pointed out that the DMK seems to be in a commanding position because of the strong anti-incumbency factor against the ruling AIADMK and the internal strife in that party.
“The Congress has to win the 2019 Lok Sabha election and the party would not hesitate to remove any stumbling blocks from its way to maintain its good ties with the DMK,” he said.
A churning process is on in Tamil Nadu politics and lot of changes could happen in the political landscape as all parties have got into election mode.