TN: Congressmen raise pitch for share in power

Many of the party leaders want DMK to make a pre-poll announcement that next government will have Congress ministers.

Jayanthi Natarajan, K Jayakumar, G K Vasan, P Chidambaram, K V Thangkabalu at a meet in Chennai on Sunday. (Express Photo)

CHENNAI: The Congress must get a share in power and the DMK must announce it well before the May polls. This was the loud message conveyed by a cross-section of party funct­iona­ries on the opening day of a consultative meet convened by the five-member Congress election panel on Sunday.

The poll panel, which comprised Union ministers P Chidambaram and G K Vasan, Rajya Sabha MP Jayanthi Natarajan, MLA K Jayakumar and TNCC President K V Thangkabalu, elicited the views of MLAs, MPs, former state unit presidents and a host of other functionaries including former legislators and members of Parliament.

TN Youth Congress president M Yuvaraja said he stro­ngly impressed upon the panel the importance of sharing power. “It is the earnest desire of the cadre and it would encourage them a lot to go the extra mile to clinch victory,” he told Express, adding the DMK must announce it well before the polls.

Echoing his views, Killiyur constituency MLA S John Jacob said the workers felt let down by the DMK. “I have made this clear to the panel. The DMK must share power and that would make the workers feel happy,” he said.

Former MP R Anbarasu said he too underlined the issue in the panel. “Shared governance, 80 seats for the party and due representation to Vanniyars are the key issues I raised,” he said.

AICC member K Chiranjeevi, youth Congress former president Mayura Jayakumar, special invitee from Dharmapuri district Mathivanan, all reiterated the demand for a share in power. Requesting anonymity, several sitting MLAs and MPs too supported the demand, adding they would openly make the requ­est at the “appropriate” time.

All the MLAs gave their views to the panel and legislators including D Yasoda demanded that sitting MLAs be given tickets again. Hasan Ali K (Ramanathapuram) and Gopalan B (Udagamandalam) did not attend the meeting.

The issue of non-inclusion of senior party leader E V K S Elangovan in the poll panel echoed yet again. At the panel deliberations, Elangovan supporters, MLAs R M Palanisami and Rani Venkatesan, walked out in a huff after registering their protest. “The non-inclusion of our leader was the only issue,” Palanisami said. “After registering our anguish we walked out. We spoke nothing on polls.”