Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president E.V.K.S. Elangovan on Tuesday said the exit of G.K. Vasan and his supporters had resulted in more people joining the party instead of creating a void.
“Only after they left the Congress, more and more people are joining the party and it has ensured cohesion instead of creating a void. Even his grandfather E.V.R. Periyar and C. Rajagopalachari, who parted ways with the Congress, could not wipe out the party, he said adding, “In fact, my grandfather had to support Kamaraj.”
Mr. Elangovan was addressing a ‘cadre’s meet,’ his first political exercise outside Chennai after >Mr. Vasan quit the party , at Palayamkottai.
“Mr. Vasan, who enjoyed all privileges when he was part of the UPA government at the Centre, should not have left the party when it is in trouble. This action, has landed his political career in trouble,” Mr. Elangovan said.
The TNCC president was not prepared to accept that the Congress’s vote share in Tamil Nadu had shrunk to just four per cent. “Even after P. Chidambaram, Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthy, Kumari Ananthan, G. A. Vadivelu and G.K. Moopanar left the party, the Congress enjoyed 13 per cent vote share. Now, we’re all under one umbrella and hence the 2016 Assembly election will be ours,” he said.
Mr. Elangovan reiterated his demand that the Centre take steps to unseat the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in Sri Lanka to save the Tamils in the island nation.
The meeting was attended by the former Union Minister, R. Dhanushkodi Athithan, the former MLAs, H. Vasanthakumar, Ravi Arunan, Rani Venkatesan, P. Veldurai, A. Chellakumar, Su. Thirunavukarasar and Jayakumar.
