The former Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, said on Friday that Tamil Nadu was under a “strange government” in which even the Chief Minister did not know who was heading the State.
He was addressing a meeting to mark the 125th birth anniversary of the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Pointing out that it was difficult to run a national party in a State dominated by two parochial parties, he urged TNCC president E.V.K.S. Elangovan to revamp the Congress organisation and ensure adequate representation for the youth. “The party can catch the imagination of the people only with the arrival of youngsters in large numbers.”
Mr. Chidambaram, who reserved his comments on the former Union Minister, G.K. Vasan’s decision to launch a new party, compared the Congress to a big tree that would not be destroyed just because one branch was broken.
Mr. Elangovan rejected the argument that the Congress had only a limited vote bank, saying people voted for a party taking into account major issues at the time of elections. “The Congress will capture power in Tamil Nadu in 2016. At least, it will create a situation in which no party can come to power without the support of the Congress,” he said.
Expressing solidarity with Mr. Elangovan’s leadership, other Congress leaders, including Kumari Anandan and Su. Thirunavukkarasar, said Mr. Vasan had gone against the wish of his late father G.K. Moopanar.
