“I will strive to bring back the glorious days of the Congress in Tamil Nadu,” said B.S. Gnanadesikan, Rajya Sabha MP, who was named president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee by the high command on Friday.
The appointment brings to an end the uncertainty in TNCC affairs created by the resignation of K.V. Thangkabalu six months ago. Mr. Thangkabalu sent in his resignation a day after the results of the Assembly elections were out. The party managed to win only five of the 63 seats it contested. He was allowed to continue till the local body polls in October. The party performed poorly in these polls as well.
Talking to The Hindu over phone, Mr. Gnanadesikan said that he joined the Congress in 1967, moved by his admiration for former All India Congress Committee president and former Chief Minister, K. Kamaraj. “I am sure we will be able to bring back Kamaraj rule in Tamil Nadu sometime or the other.”
Expressing his gratitude to AICC president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi for the faith they had reposed by entrusting him with this assignment “at a crucial time,” he said his first priority was to fulfil their wishes and see that all Congressmen were united. “I will take everyone with me, obtain everyone's views and suggestions.”
Hailing from Srivilliputtur in Virudhunagar district, the native district of Kamaraj, Mr. Gnanadesikan, 62, is a lawyer by profession. He is a loyalist of Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan. He came into prominence when Mr. Vasan's father, G.K. Moopanar, was president of the Tamil Maanila Congress, a splinter of the Congress. Mr. Gnanadesikan was the TMC spokesman as well. An alumnus of Loyola College, Chennai, Mr. Gnanadesikan obtained his law degree from Dr. Ambedkar Law College, Chennai. He has been practising in the Madras High Court.
In July 2001 that he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. He was re-elected in May 2008. He was a member of several parliamentary committees, including the Committee on Defence, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Finance, Committee on Labour, Committee on Fertilizers and Chemicals, and Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs. He is a Member, Jawaharlal Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, and Member, Committee on Water Resources.
