Karti Chidambaram, son of former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, said on Tuesday that it was time the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) sought autonomy in its functioning from the high command.
In a chat with The Hindu a day after former Union Minister G.K. Vasan broke away from the Congress to float a new party, Mr. Karti said the State unit needed something like the Kerala model, wherein decisions were collectively made in the State and Delhi informed only for approval.
“Even in Kerala, there are differing opinions among leaders. But they do not allow Delhi [the AICC], especially observers, to interfere in their functioning. The way forward for all of us is to stay united and collectively seek functional autonomy,” the Congress leader said.
“We should say in one voice that we will not brook unnecessary interference, and we will take our political lines on our own. The dynamics of the relationship with Delhi should have been changed on the Kerala model,” he said.
“If someone like Mr. Peter Alphonse feels alienated from the party, there is something seriously wrong with the current system,” Mr. Karti said. The reasons for some leaving the party were understandable, but the timing saddened him as Congress was ceding ground in the State. “By starting a small regional outfit, some feel they can become ideologically neutral and get into alliances that would have been unholy in the past, for example with the BJP,” he said, adding, someone leaving the party could still impinge its fortunes. Meanwhile, Congress MLA and Kanyakumari district president J.G. Prince decided to remain in the parent party and met TNCC chief E.V.K.S Elangovan at Satyamurthy Bhavan here.
