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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