CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Congress headquarters on Monday turned the scene for display of polite bitterness over the party’s worst ever performance in the Lok Sabha election. While most of the speakers at a function held here chose to direct their ire at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and turned soothsayers of doom, veteran Congressman EVKS Elangovan turned the focus on his party high command.
“It is the Congress worker in Tamil Nadu who has a better idea of whom to form alliance with in this State. There is a scenario where every worker on the ground is constantly afraid of what the high command will say. I urge you (high command) to let each State unit function on its own. It is time to stop moping about the defeat and move on,” said Elangovan, during a function held in remembrance of Latha Priyakumar, daughter of Congress veteran Maragatham Chandrasekar, who passed away last year.
While no other leader on stage dared to be as direct as Elangovan, some did refer to this point in a more circumspect way, even as most got down to predicting victory for the Congress in the coming Delhi elections.
TNCC chief BS Gnanadesikan, for instance, put it tactfully. “Over the past two years, there was an interference in government by the party and there was little coordination in the way the party functioned. The media also constantly criticised us. This caused anger which turned into a wave against us,” he said.