CHENNAI: Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) leader GK Vasan’s meeting with DMK treasurer MK Stalin, who has, of late, been calling the shots in the party, seemed to have sent jitters in the Congress camp with the newly appointed president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC), S Thirunavukarasar, rushing to Gopalapuram to have an audience with Karunanidhi, sources said.
With the entry of TMC into the DMK-led alliance last week, Thirunavukarasar faces an uphill task.
While grassroots functionaries entertain huge expectations about the civic polls, the TNCC chief has to satisfy the 41 district presidents who are supporters of EVKS Elangovan and the ‘other groups’ within the faction-ridden Congress. Accompanied by Peter Alphonse, KV Thangabalu and Kumari Ananthan, Thirunavukarasar spent 45 minutes with the DMK president.
SWINGING TO SURVIVE
This party was started in Tamil Nadu much before TMC became a byword in West Bengal politics. The powerful Congress leader G K Moopanar launched the Tamil Maanila Congress in 1996 after opposing the Cong-AIADMK alliance. Since most parties are family affairs, Moopanar’s son G K Vasan became the party president when the founder died. In 2002, he merged it with the Congress only to break away in 2014, mainly because he felt the mother outfit was on a weak wicket in the state. After its poor showing in the last Assembly polls, it makes better sense for the ambitious Vasan to ally with DMK. From 20 MPs in 1999, TMC has come doen to zero in the Lok Sabha.