: The appointment of Su. Thirunavukkarasar as president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) is expected to bring a marked change in the way the party functions in the State.
Being associated with the Congress only for seven years, and, therefore, not linked to any particular faction, Mr. Thirunavukkarasar is likely to be much restrained in his functioning, quite unlike his irrepressible predecessor, E.V.K.S. Elangovan. Not being associated with any of the factions may mean that Mr. Thirunavukkarasar may not face much trouble on a day-to-day basis. He himself feels he could run the State unit effectively, as most senior leaders in the party were his friends. However, this does not mean that sections of the party are not unhappy with his appointment.
Chosen by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi over a few other claimants, the new TNCC president may have to face resentment among cadre and second-rung leaders representing Nadars and Dalits, two communities that continue to support the Congress in a big way.
In a State in which caste dynamics has permeated society, culture and politics, the mantle being handed over to Mr. Thirunavukkarasar, a Mukkulathor by caste, has not drawn much appreciation, at least for now. The party’s floor leader in the Assembly, K.R. Ramasamy, also belongs to the same community. Further, the treasurer’s post is held by ‘Naesey’ J. Ramachandran, who joined the Congress along with Mr. Thirunavukkarasar after a stint with the BJP.
With the two main Dravidian parties, the DMK and AIADMK, garnering much of the Mukkulathor votes, attracting a section of the community towards the Congress may not be easy, say party functionaries.
A chequered pastSome party functionaries said that after former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram showed lack of interest in getting the post, former MLA Peter Alphonse, sitting MLA H. Vasanth Kumar, former Union Minister E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, and another former MLA, K. Chellakumar, were in the race for becoming TNCC president.
“Holding the TNCC president post is a big challenge, but I will extend my fullest cooperation,” said AICC member Karti Chidambaram.
“Mr. Thirunavukkarasar is a pleasant and friendly man and is known across the State. He is also accessible. But he has a chequered past. He does not have many followers outside his constituency and has also not made any effort to cultivate the old Congress hands. Though we don’t find any problem with him projecting MGR in his constituency, his son’s defeat in the constituency that returned him six times in the past clearly shows that Congress supporters are not happy with him,” said a senior leader. The challenge faced by Mr. Thirunavukkarasar is explained by the fact that most of the party’s district presidents and secretaries are supporters of Mr. Elangovan and Mr. Chidambaram. As many as 41 district presidents threw their weight behind Mr. Elangovan and demanded the removal of Youth Congress leader Vijay Ilanchezhian when he filed a complaint against the former.
“Mr. Thirunavukkarasar will be at the mercy of these district presidents and second-level leaders. He cannot afford to disturb them now as the State is gearing up for the local body elections. But what will work in his favour is that there will be indirect elections to the posts of local body chiefs. The TNCC president is under no compulsion to lobby for anyone,” noted a former MP.