Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi asked the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) members here on Thursday to end factionalism and focus on rebuilding the party for the 2016 Assembly elections in the State.
After exiting the meeting, the newly appointed TNCC president, E.V.K.S. Elangovan, told reporters: “G.K. Vasan’s departure from the party will have no impact. Soniaji and Rahulji asked us to remain united.”
Responding to a query from The Hindu on the infighting in the State unit, he replied: “Now we are going to speak in one voice. Maybe, 10 per cent of the cadre have gone with him [Mr Vasan]. You can’t call it a split because only some have left.”
The former Union Minister, S. Thirunavukkarasar, said the party leadership had asked them to take up people’s issues and enrol new members in the run-up to the Assembly polls. “Rahulji has asked us to focus on what’s next and not on what’s in the past. Mr. Vasan has already left the party. We will start the party from the grassroots,” he added.
Besides Mr. Elangovan and Mr. Thirunavukkarasar, the 13 Tamil Nadu leaders who took part in the meeting included the former Union Minister, P. Chidambaram, the former TNCC presidents, K. V. Thangkabalu and Kumari Ananthan, and E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, MP.
After the hour-long meeting, Mr. Chidambaram did not take questions about the remarks of his son Karti Chidambaram seeking more autonomy for the TNCC.
AICC general secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu Mukul Wasnik, who was particularly targeted by Mr. Vasan, also attended the meeting.
Jayanthi says she was not part of team
Our Chennai Special Correspondent reports:
While speculation was rife in the party circles that the former Union Minister, Jayanthi Natarajan, was camping in New Delhi but did not join the delegation, she said she had never gone to Delhi. “I informed Mr. Elangovan that I was down with fever and sore throat. Which is why I did not join the delegation and stayed back in Chennai,” she said.
