A change of guard in the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee has been expected for a while now, with current president K.S. Alagiri completing four years in the post in February this year, but the local leadership hopes he will stay on at least until next year’s Lok Sabha election so as to not disturb the organisational set up.
While a number of TNCC leaders in the State, including MPs S. Jothimani (Karur) and A. Chellakumar (Krishnagiri) and Congress Assembly floor leader K. Selvaperunthagai, are believed to be on a shortlist, the imminent announcement is yet to come through.
With the Lok Sabha election approaching, there is a view among a few office-bearers that no significant gain is expected from appointing a new president at this point. In fact, some feel the act would change the organisational structure and create disgruntlement among office-bearers.
Speaking to The Hindu, a senior TNCC office-bearer appeared to suggest a new president would not have any time to put their own stamp on the organisation as the election season would set in soon in the next few months.
“Mr. Alagiri has done well electorally – the Congress has won eight out of nine MP seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. In the 2021 Assembly election, it won 18 out of 25 seats while also performing well in the local body polls. He also ensured that the Tamil Nadu leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra was a huge success,”said a senior leader and TNCC office-bearer.
Those close to Mr. Alagiri said Congress High Command had not told him that his tenure would end nor had he expressed any desire to continue in the post.
A senior leader said though Mr. Alagiri is well aware that the post of the TNCC president cannot be held forever, he said a part of the credit for the Congress stitching the ‘strongest alliance’ in Tamil Nadu should go to him. “In Assembly elections, he has a good strike rate of 72% and has managed to empower the District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents to take decisions independently, which has strengthened the organisation,” a source said.
Chengam Kumar, president, Tiruvannamalai South DCC, said, “Everyone talks about decentralisation of power but he managed to implement it. He managed to empower leaders at the district level and ensured that district presidents were as equally important as the MLAs and MPs. This is the reason why we are able to organise protests and events mandated by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) at such short notice.”
However, an AICC member said the State unit must look ahead to counter the BJP in Tamil Nadu, led by a younger president, K. Annamalai, and said a change could be expected in State units after the Assembly election in Karnataka. The Congress leadership would look at the larger context of politics in Tamil Nadu.
“Corruption is a big issue in Tamil Nadu, and the next president of the State unit should be in a position to flag such issues in the State,” the AICC member added.
