With the rebel Congress leader G.K. Vasan deciding to retrace his father G.K. Moopanar’s footsteps “to reflect the aspirations of the people of the State,” the stage is set for the launch of yet another regional party.
The reincarnation of the Tamil Maanila Congress is slated with a massive show of strength here for Friday.
Mr. Vasan’s supporters were straining their nerves to make the public meeting a grand success to prove that a majority of the Congress cadre in the State were with him.
During a visit to the venue of the meet G. Corner here last week, Mr. Vasan himself claimed the “majority” (of the Congress cadre) was with him and the meeting would prove it.
The city wore a festive look on the eve of the launch as Mr. Vasan’s supporters have painted the town red with festoons, cut-outs, and banners. Mobile campaign vehicles fanned out to various parts of the district over the past week to mobilise support for the meeting. Although the venue could seat about 50,000 people, the organisers expect a crowd of anywhere between 2.5 and three lakh people — the chunk of it was expected to come from central Tamil Nadu, especially the delta region that was the late Moopanar’s pocket borough.
However, his supporters say that they are expecting people from all parts of the State. “The response has been very good across the State. Youth, women, and even Opposition party members are expressing support to us. We expect a massive turnout,” said M. Rajasekaran, former MLA and a trusted lieutenant of Mr. Vasan.
As with most other parties, Mr. Vasan and his supporters seem to consider Tiruchi the springboard to political turn point.
Keeping with the party’s rally cry “valamana Tamizhagam, valimayana Bharatham” (prosperous Tamil Nadu and strong India), the 60x40 feet stage is flanked by cut outs of the Fort St. George and Parliament House. Efforts are on to webcast the meeting to reach out to the youth, Mr. Rajasekaran said.
Mr. Vasan’s supporters agree that the conditions are different from what prevailed in 1996 when G.K. Moopanar launched the original TMC.