It could be a short-lived joy for the P Chidambaram family as the entire Congress committee in Tamil Nadu has turned against them for bringing "disrepute" to party Chief Rahul Gandhi, according to senior leaders in the party. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, infamous for its group rivalries and mutual mistrust, finds itself united in demanding party chief Rahul Gandhi not to resign. But what is interesting is that party activists and other leaders have turned against former union minister P Chidambaram for pressurizing Rahul Gandhi to part with a seat for his son Karti Chidambaram in the recently held General election.
“It was known from the word go that Karti was fielded as a candidate only because of the pressure exerted by Chidambaram over Rahul Gandhi. Now, the party chief himself has said that he was under pressure from three senior leaders including Chidambaram to accommodate their sons as candidates in the election.Though we were all against the candidature of Karti, the directive by Rahul Gandhi made us work for him,” said a senior Congress leader in TNCC.
The leader, whjo did not want his name to be quoted for fear of physical assaults from the bouncers under the disposal of Chidambaram pointed out that even Rajnianth, the film actor who was not favourably disposed to the Congress party waxing eloquence at Rahul Gandhi. “Rahul Gandhi should not quit as party president and he should show the world that he can lead Congress to victory,” the actor had told the media on Tuesday.
The Congress leader blamed Chidambaram and party’s state chief K S Azhagiri for their role in getting Karti a seat from Tamil Nadu. “There are many senior Congress leaders like Sudarshan Nachiappan with proven track record. But Chidambaram wanted his son to be in a privileged position because the latter is an accused in serious cases of financial impropriety and corruption. Chidambaram himself is power hungry and selfish. We are happy that the Congress High Command has understood his intentions,” said the semior Congress leader from Tamil Nadu. He pointed out that Azhagiri was appointed as party chef ignoring the claims of many senior leaders at the instance of Chidambaram. “Azhagiri is Chidambaram’s sidekick,” he said.
Meanwhile, there has been demands from friendly parties of the Congress in Kerala that Rahul Gandhi should not resign. Hyderali Shihab Thangal, president, Muslim League, asked the Congress chief not to resign because of the party’s failure in the general election. Rahul Gandhi was elected from Kerala’s Wayanadu constituency, a Muslim League stronghold with record margin.