Former Union Minister GK Vasan (Centre) along with supporters after he formally announced his decision to quit Congress and form a new party in Chennai on Monday. (Press Trust of India)
The Congress, mired in one of its worst crises with a growing list of electoral defeats, has new whiplash to contend with. The party has split in Tamil Nadu, where it has already been reduced to a bit player.
Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:
GK Vasan, a top Congress leader from Tamil Nadu, says he is launching a new party, and will announce its name along with other details soon.
Mr Vasan, 49, was a union minister in the Congress-led government that was rudely punished in the national election this year. 39 Congressmen ran for the Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu; all were defeated.
Mr Vasan told NDTV today that he is thankful to the First Family of the Congress- the Gandhis - for "accommodating" him for many years, but his note of thanks appeared to have a sharp jibe embedded - he said promotions and appointments in his new party will be based on merit.
"If he was so concerned about the Congress party, he should have remained with the party," retorted Sandeep Dikshit, a party spokesperson in Delhi. "Only the weak and power hungry run away" he said. The Congress has expelled Mr Vasan.
Last week, BS Gnanadesikan, known as a loyalist of Mr Vasan, resigned as President of the Congress in Tamil Nadu, accusing the party's leadership in Delhi of failing to consult the state branch on important issues.
The Congress read this as arm-twisting and appointed EVKS Elangovan as the new state President. Mr Vasan and Mr Elangovan are political rivals.
Mr Vasan's father was GK Moopanar, a senior Congress leader who formed his own party in 1996 and allied it with the DMK, the regional party that's headed by M Karunanidhi. After Mr Moopanar died, his son merged the spin-off with the Congress in 2002.
Mr Vasan's supporters allege that former union minister P Chidambaram has been holding meetings with partymen in Tamil Nadu to create a parallel centre of power. Mr Chidambaram, who was Finance Minister in Dr Manmohan Singh's government, did not contest the national election in May.
In the last state election in 2011, the Congress won just five of the 234 seats.
Tamil Nadu is two years away from its next election. Mr Vasan, who is seen to have a strong following among Congress cadres, could be an attractive proposition for an alliance for other parties in the state.
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