MADURAI: Discontent over candidate selection surfaced within the Congress in Melur on Monday, with the party’s official nominee P Viswanathan, facing resistance from local cadres while filing his nomination papers.
The Congress, a constituent of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, has been allotted the Melur Assembly constituency. However, the party high command’s decision to field former Kancheepuram MP P Viswanathan has triggered resentment among a section of local office-bearers, who termed him an “outsider”.
According to sources, while a meeting was underway, Viswanathan arrived at the venue along with Madurai district Congress Committee president Noor Mohamed and appealed to the cadres to support his candidature.
A section of party members raised slogans and asked him to leave the venue, leading to a brief verbal altercation. In another sign of internal dissent, four Congress members, including Mahatma Srinivasan and Vairavan Ramasundaram, are said to have filed separate nominations against the official party candidate. Posters condemning Viswanathan’s candidature surfaced across parts of Melur town.