Will bring in fresh blood to rebuild Tamil Nadu Congress unit, says Selvaperunthagai

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K Selvaperunthagai said on Sunday that the grand old party has initiated the process to rebuild its unit in the state by bringing in new faces. He was speaking to the media at TNCC headquarters in Sathyamoorthy Bhavan, in Chennai, after former TNCC general secretary Tambaram G Narayanan, a DMK functionary and currently president of Murpokku Sindhanaiyalar Peravai, rejoined the Congress party today.

Responding to a question over Erode East MLA and veteran Congress leader EVKS Elangovan's remarks about Kamaraj's rule, the TNCC chief said, "Wherever there is good governance, it is Kamaraj's governance. Former chief minister late M Karunanidhi called his regime as 'Kamaraj's regime'. Similarly, if Stalin or anyone says MK Stalin's regime is 'Kamaraj's regime', then I will be happy."

"Late chief minister K Kamaraj will forever remain as a portrait and as a lesson in the hearts of Tamil people. No one can hide the pride of Kamaraj," he noted. K Kamaraj had served as the Chief Minister of Madras State, between April 13, 1954 to October 2, 1963.

Claiming that the BJP would not form government at Centre for a third consecutive term, the Congress' Sriperumbudur MLA alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not respect the Constitution of India and the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

"On the contrary, PM Modi has realised that he is going to fail in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls and is now engaged in riot politics," he said.

Accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI), the former Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader said that the ECI was watching the campaign of PM Modi, who is campaigning against the Constitution of India, without taking any action.

"Fair elections should be held. Whoever speaks hate politics, caste and religion, and incites riots, should be banned from campaigning," Selvaperunthagai asserted.

Refuting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks against the grand old party over the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the TNCC chief said, "Congress leaders are also devotees of Lord Ram. We will also construct Ram Mandir. It is Congress' habit not to demolish, but to build. After building India, we have built many temples. But, the BJP's job is to demolish structures built by Congress."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Friday mocked the Congress-SP alliance in Uttar Pradesh, saying: "If the Congress-SP alliance comes to power, the Ayodhya Ram Mandir would be demolished using a bulldozer... They should learn from Yogiji where to run a bulldozer and where not." He had also claimed that if the I.N.D.I.A opposition bloc won the Lok Sabha elections, Ram Lalla, the deity, would be moved back to a tent.