TNCC prez Elangovan flays Karti Chidambaram for provocative comments
An outspoken Elangovan who has a reputation for daringly calling out his party colleagues and leaders regardless of their stature on Friday was heard admonishing Karti Chidambaram for his frank views.
EVKS Elangovan
CHENNAI: Differences in the state Congress over the party's nature of ties with the ruling DMK were out in the open after Erode East MLA and former TNCC president EVKS Elangovan flayed his party MP Karti Chidambaram for his ''provocative' comments.
An outspoken Elangovan who has a reputation for daringly calling out his party colleagues and leaders regardless of their stature on Friday was heard admonishing Karti Chidambaram for his frank views.
"If he didn't desire an alliance with the DMK he should have contested alone in the recent Parliamentary polls. Almost all congress functionaries in Sivagangai did not want him to be fielded in Sivagangai. They went to Delhi and petitioned against his candidature. He was allotted a ticket because of his father Chidambaram. No congress functionary worked for his victory. He won only because of the work of DMK. He would have struggled to secure his deposit if he had contested alone without the alliance, " Elangovan was heard saying in a couple of TV interviews Friday.
Like Elangovan, many TNCC leaders privately abhorred Karti's views. Speaking in an internal party meeting chaired by the Congress state president Selvaperunthagai recently, Karti Chidambaram said that the congress must also criticise the DMK regime like some of the other allies (VCK & CPIM) do and the state Congress must not be cowed down by alliance compulsions.
He also went on to add that the Congress must be a part of the state government in 2026.
The comment did not go down well with the DMK which privately expressed its anguish over the alliance leader making ambitious statements cut off from reality.
It was also in this background that reports emerged about the Congress high command informally inquiring about some of its TN leaders embarrassing its most loyal ally.
While the Congress preferred to be keep the reported inquiry under the wraps, it's been reliably learnt that the DMK MPs in Delhi shared their discomfiture with their Congress friends on the corridors of the Parliament.
