Congress president Sonia Gandhi has begun the process of selecting the new chief of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee by meeting several aspirants over the last two days.
Sources in the TNCC said MLA H. Vasanth Kumar met Ms. Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday.
This was followed by meetings with senior leaders Sudarsana Natchiappan and Peter Alphonse on Thursday morning.
It is learnt Ms. Gandhi had asked specific questions on what the vision of the aspirants was for the party. The leaders were asked to talk about medium- and long-term goals and also on the larger political and social context of Tamil Nadu. While Ms. Gandhi has started the process of consultation for filling up the top slot in the State unit, a final decision is likely to be taken by Rahul Gandhi.
A surprise meeting
Interestingly, the meeting with Mr. Alphonse has surprised a few in the TNCC since he had just come back to the party after spending over a year in the Tamil Maanila Congress.
It is to be noted that one of the reasons for Mr. Alphonse leaving the Congress in 2014 was that he was overlooked for the position of TNCC president, which was given to E.V.K.S. Elangovan.
However, he seems to be well and truly in the race now. “This is the second meeting he has had with Ms. Sonia in 20 days,” a source added.
While former MLA K. Gopinath also met Ms. Gandhi, it is not clear whether he made a pitch for himself or former Union Minister K.V. Thangkabalu.
She had asked specific questions on what the vision of the aspirants was
for the party
