The Hindu : Elangovan, Balakrishnan lock horns again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 22, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Elangovan, Balakrishnan lock horns again

By Our Special Correspondent

Chennai March 20. After a brief show of unity, the State Congress president, S. Balakrishnan, and the working president, E.V.K.S. Elangovan are on a warpath now.

Going public with his differences with Mr. Elangovan, the State Congress chief today said he had shot off a letter to the party president, Sonia Gandhi, demanding action against his "unilateral move" in appointing office-bearers in district units. In an aggressive display of one-upmanship, Mr. Balakrishnan also "suspended" an Elangovan acolyte and south Chennai unit president, Mangal Raj.

In a statement, he also threatened disciplinary action against the district presidents who unilaterally released the list of office-bearers.

The cause for the clash: the festering rivalry between the former TMC president and present AICC secretary, G.K. Vasan, and Mr. Elangovan. But, the immediate reason was the rival camps' attempts to corner the posts of block presidents and district unit functionaries.

According to Mr. Balakrishnan, a Vasan camp follower, the AICC rules were clear that only the TNCC president had to authorise the list of office-bearers cleared by a scrutiny committee and recommended by the zonal functionaries. "But, Mr. Elangovan said he too had the powers to authorise the list," Mr. Balakrishnan told The Hindu. When the TNCC chief insisted that he did not have the powers, Mr. Elangovan released to the media the list of office-bearers for both south Chennai and north Chennai units headed by `Royapuram' Mano, Vasan supporter.

But, supporters of Mr. Elangovan insist that his "authority" was being undermined by the Vasan camp, which is irked at his growing clout within the party. "Mr. Elangovan is taking a huge risk in taking on the AIADMK Government.

The party, instead of undermining his authority, should encourage him.

The concept of twin leaders — president and working president — is only working against party interests," say his supporters.

Interestingly, a few functionaries in the erstwhile TMC, including the former Union Minister, Jayanthi Natarajan, and the former MLA, K.S. Alagiri, have now veered to the Elangovan camp.

In a bid to work out a truce between the warring camps, the AICC secretary in-charge of Tamil Nadu, Naresh Rawal, has summoned Mr. Balakrishnan and Mr. Elangovan to Delhi tomorrow.

But, Mr. Balakrishnan claims he is "too busy" and may have to skip the Delhi trip.

It is just the first round of open sparring, but given the Congress culture, certainly it will not be the last round.

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