After TNCC president EVKS Elangovan's exit, Congress can't find a 'natural leader'

CHENNAI: Days after the last TNCC president EVKS Elangovan put in his papers, the All India Congress Committee is yet to announce a new president. While state Congress representatives themselves agree that the party has no `natural leader' to offer for the post from the state, they also lament that it is impossible for the successor to revive the party from its current position in the state.

Speculation is rife about the selection process for the state leadership having been completed in New Delhi and the new leader's name is to be announced very soon but there is absolutely no jubilation in any of the factions in the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee. "The state Congress leader is not given any freedom to function independently and he has to constantly wait for signal from the national leadership. In a state that has a very strong regional party presence and a vibrant political atmosphere, the new leader does not stand a chance to show the party's presence in the state if he has no functional autonomy," a Congress leader told ET. "From 2002, on an average every two years the Congress leader has changed.We have had seven TNCC presidents in the last 14 years and no one can create a big change in the party in two years," said the Congress leader.

APCV Shanmugam, vicepresident of TNCC, who resigned from his post on Tuesday in continuation with a spate of resignations in the party said it is unfortunate that EVKS Elangovan had to resign. "It would have been good for the party if it had asked Elangovan to continue until the 2019 Lok Sabha polls," Shanmugam said.