Lacklustre campaign by Congress in Salem, Namakkal criticised

The lacklustre manner in which the Congress organised its electioneering in the three constituencies in Salem and Namakkal districts allotted to it in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led front has come in for sharp criticism from a cross section of cadre of the DMK and Congress alike.

The party leadership at the Centre and in the State let down the party nominees and they were made to fend for themselves from the beginning till the end without any backing even for name sake, claim the Congress cadre of both the districts.

Congress was allotted Sankagiri and Attur-reserved constituencies in Salem district and Namakkal in Namakkal district. All the three Congress nominees T. K. Rajeswaran (Sankagiri), S. K. Arthanari (Attur-reserved), and R. Chezian (Namakkal) suffered defeats at the hands of AIADMK men.

Never in the past, were the party nominees left in the lurch as this time, a senior leader of the party who was involved in campaigning in Sankagiri constituency said. Even while acknowledging the co-operation extended by the DMK cadre in electioneering, the local Congress leaders complain that the party men did not receive any kind of direction, motivation and other sort of support throughout the electioneering from either the Central or State leadership.

The state president of the Congress E. V. K. S. Elangovan was the only leader to campaign in all the three constituencies. Former Minister K. V. Thangkabalu, despite hailing from Salem, preferred to campaign in Attur, for a single day.

The Central leadership could have roped in former central ministers from the southern states in the campaign trail, they argue. “We are planning to write to the party president Sonia Gandhi bringing out all the facts that were mainly responsible for the pathetic show of the party”, a local leader on the assurance of anonymity said.

The Central leadership should take stringent action against the State leaders who did not make any attempt to reach out to the people even at the time of elections, which hampered the prospects of the party candidates in a big way, he said.