Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday took a surprise decision to induct its national treasurer and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Motilal Vora into the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee Trust (TNCCT).
Sources in the party said he is perhaps the first person outside Tamil Nadu to get into the Trust, which controls properties of the party worth hundreds of crores.
Mr. Vora would be replacing former Union Minister Jayanthi Natarajan. She resigned from the position when she quit the Congress last month. The party also nominated C.R. Kesavan, party spokesperson and great grandson of C. Rajagopalachari, to the TNCCT. He replaces former Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan.
While the swift decision to replace the trustees has been welcomed, party circles were taken aback by the nomination of Mr. Vora overlooking many other senior leaders in Tamil Nadu. A senior functionary said that Ms. Natarajan and Mr. Vasan leaving the party may have given the AICC an element of distrust, forcing the induction of a person from another State.
“I think they wanted to ensure absolute loyalty. The TNCCT controls huge amount of assets, including the Satyamurthi Bhavan. The AICC now wants direct control,” the leader said, requesting anonymity.
Another view was that with the infighting in the Tamil Nadu Congress, particularly between the factions of E.V.K.S Elangovan and P. Chidambaram escalating over the last few weeks, the high command may have wanted to bring in a senior person unconnected to the State to ensure the Trust’s smooth functioning.
When contacted, Mr. Kesavan said he was honoured to be part of the prestigious TNCCT and would ensure his best efforts for its betterment.
The other trustees are former MLA D. Yasoda and former Union Minister Sudarsana Natchiappan. As the TNCC president Mr. Elangovan would be the ex-officio member of the Trust.
“The high command may have wanted to bring in a senior person unconnected to the State to ensure the Trust’s smooth functioning”
