The All India Congress Committee (AlCC) was keen to field former Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy in the Assembly polls from the Union Territory, though the decision to not contest was a personal choice of the Congress veteran, according to party leaders.
“The morale of the cadre was down after the spate of resignations and also because of the less number of seats that we got during the seat-sharing talks with DMK. We wanted him and all our top leaders to contest so as to enthuse our cadre,” an AICC leader told The Hindu.
The former Chief Minister would be leading the campaign, he said adding “we can’t force a very senior leader like him. But as he is a committed leader, he will campaign from the front. We respect his decision.”
The decision to field PCC chief A.V Subramanian was taken with the objective to send across a message to the cadre that the party was a serious contender even after all the defections and rumblings in seat sharing talks, said the AICC member.
The Chief Minister, when contacted, said he would give a detailed explanation soon.