Rumblings In Tamil Nadu Congress, State Chief Dismisses It As Internal Affair

After a prolonged silence, rumblings against the state leadership surfaced in the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, with a few office bearers overtly expressing their resentment.

What took everyone by surprise was the chaos and a sudden fight between the supporters of two MLAs on the premises of Sathymurthy Bhavan - the TNCC headquarters - on November 15.

Though TNCC chief KS Alagiri, later, dismissed this as the party's internal affair, which would be sorted out, the incident nevertheless brought to the fore the bickerings within the party.

The party's Thoothukudi north district Congress president R Kamaraj resigned from his party post protesting against the alleged handling of the incidents.

TNCC treasurer and Nanguneri legislator Ruby R Manoharan, whose supporters created a ruckus leading to a minor fight, said he has been served a show-cause notice by the party leadership, and he would make his submission before the disciplinary committee on November 24.

His supporters had protested against the election results of the block presidents for Kalakkad and Nanguneri. The supporters of Tirunelveli east district Congress committee president KPK Jayakumar got into an argument with them, leading to a fight between the two groups.

"The party posts were filled without consulting the district presidents. The arbitrary action against Manoharan is unacceptable. The party cadres were attacked by goondas inside the Congress state headquarters. What action has the state president taken against the goondas?" Mr Kamaraj asked.

He also alleged that the TNCC did not pass a resolution condemning the release of the convicts in the former Prime Minister and Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

Dismissing it as an internal issue, Mr Alagiri claimed that "dissatisfaction against leadership is natural in any political party." The appointments were made as per the procedure laid down by the state election commission, he said.

About 62 district leaders signed a petition seeking disciplinary action against the Nanguneri MLA.

"We are trying to resolve the issue in a democratic manner. Alagiri's car was waylaid by a group of persons," claimed former union minister Dhanushkodi Athithan.

Posters demanding action against Mr Manoharan in Tirunelveli district and some posters in Chidambaram against Mr Alagiri took the party by surprise.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)