PUDUCHERRY: In a significant development, nearly 20 lawyers, led by M V Ramachandra Murthy,on Monday quit the ruling All India N R Congress (AINRC) and submitted their resignation letters to party deputy president Gnanasekeran. This is seen as a fall out of Yanam Congress MLA Malladi Krishna Rao’s closeness to the Chief Minister N Rangasamy.
Murthy was appointed in-charge of Yanam during Lok Sabha elections. He managed to get five thousand votes for N R Congress from Yanam, which was considered a good number in the stronghold of Krishna Rao. Now with Rao having announced his allegiance to Rangasamy for the Assembly elections due in 2016, Murthy and his supporters have reached a dead end.
Young and capable, they are obviously looking at other political options. This could benefit opponents of AINRC during the elections. Murthy had been the vice president of NR Peravai which was formed before the assembly elections and was a prelude to the formation of Chief Minister N.Rangasamy’s new party, the AINRC. The NR Peravai prepared the base for Rangasamy’s win that finally led to his landslide victory in the 2011 assembly elections.
Lack of recognition and the alleged failure of Rangasamy to fulfil the aspirations of people have been cited as reasons for the lawyers quitting NR Congress. “ Despite the fact that NR Peravai is the parent party, no efforts were made to give it due recognition,” opined Murthy.
After the AINRC came to power, the peravai members were forgotten and the party did not give its members any position in government. However, several others who joined later got positions and have now become the main players of the party. “The voices of the Peravai members are not heard as they are kept from reaching the Chief Minister and blocked by the circle of members surrounding him,” Murthy alleged.
Now, all eyes will be on this group as both AIADMK and Congress are trying to get them into their fold. However Murthy said a decision will be taken around the time of Rajya Sabha elections.