Trouble in Tamil Nadu Congress

NEW DELHI: A section in the Tamil Nadu Congress has alleged that state unit president KV Thangkabalu has ‘manipulated’ the panel of candidates in several constituencies and names of “genuine and winnable” candidates were not put up before the election screening committee.

Some candidates have sent written complaints to general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad on how they had paid the mandatory fee of Rs 5,000 for the application form but were not even called for the statelevel screening. Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu is on April 13 and the Congress is part of the ruling front led by DMK.

Though such charges are quite commonplace in Congress before every state poll, what has made matters worse is the open rebellion by party MPs from the state. According to a Congress leader, 6 out of 8 Lok Sabha MPs — M Krishnasswamy , Vishwanathan Perumal, SS Ramasubbu, Manicka Tagore, Sambandam Alagiri and JM Aaroon Rasheed — met Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday afternoon and formally lodged a protest against the selection procedure.

The MPs voiced concern over charges of corruption and said that if the list presented by Thangkabalu is finalised winnable candidates would suffer. Earlier, the MPs conveyed to Azad also that they would not campaign in their districts if the list presented by Thangkabalu is considered. The formal protests have come after the central election committee of the party finalised the list of candidates for 63 seats on Monday night. Sources said that a version of the list was leaked out to the state leadership.

An MP told ET: “We lost our Congress Legislature Party leader three months back. No replacement was found despite MPs pointing it out to the party high command. This is why there was no counter to Thangkabalu in the Pradesh Election Committee. No formal list was prepared at that level either.”

What has incensed the state leaders even more is that name of Thangkabalu’s wife Jayanthi, a social worker, figures in the list of candidates leaked on Monday night.

Another Congress MP said, “we have already delayed the selection of candidates so much. Now if genuine candidates are not given tickets how do we even stand a chance? I will see if I am not too angry after the list is released, maybe I will campaign.”

The party delayed the release of the list till late Tuesday night. Selection procedure of Tamil Nadu has always been an emotional affair for Congress. In the 2006 Assembly elections, after the list was announced , disappointed ticket seekers flung themselves in front of the car of Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel.

Party treasurer Moti Lal Vohra, who was working late at the Congress headquarters, also could not escape the ire of the candidates who tore his kurta. The MPs have conveyed to general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad that they would not campaign in their districts if the list presented by Thangkabalu is considered Some candidates have complained that they were not even called for the state-level screening despite paying the mandatory fee of Rs 5,000 for the application form What has incensed the state leaders even more is that name of Thangkabalu’s wife Jayanthi, a social worker, figures in the list of candidates leaked on Monday night.