Is fresh trouble brewing within the Congress in Tamil Nadu?
Manickam Tagore, the MP from Virudhunagar, who was early advocating a Congress tie-up with Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, has now written a letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge tendering his resignation as head of the panel overseeing election coordination.
There are reports that he is unhappy with the Congress' choice of candidates.
The decision comes at a time when the Grand Old Party is yet to finalise its candidates for the election. The DMK-led alliance had allocated 28 seats to the Congress.
The delay led to a farcical moment on Wednesday with Chief Minister MK Stalin forced to seek votes for the hand symbol and not a candidate while campaigning in the Thuraiyur constituency in Trichy.
"In Thuraiyur Assembly constituency, the Congress will contest this time, and we have allocated the seat to them. While the candidate is yet to be announced, I urge people to support whoever Rahul Gandhi names and ensure their victory. I also appeal to voters to help all nine candidates of the Secular Progressive Alliance in Trichy win this time," the CM said.
Tamil Nadu votes in 22 days on April 23.
Tagore had earlier demanded that the Congress must be given a share in power if the ruling alliance were to be reelected.
TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai had slammed this later, questioning why the need for power sharing was being aired only before the election.
Tagore had gone on to make his peace with the subsequent DMK-Congress pact by observing that while "individuals could have differences, the party is bigger than any of us."
But the 50-year-old three-time MP's latest move raises the prospect of further trouble ahead of the party's campaign in Tamil Nadu.
