Objecting to the nomination of Union Minister of State for PMO V Narayanasamy to contest the Puducherry Lok Sabha seat, supporters of Rajya Sabha member P Kannan on Friday threatened to resign from their posts and give up their primary party membership.
Around 50 office-bearers and members of various wings, led by PCC secretary Vetriselvam, have planned to tender their resignation. “This is undemocratic. A handful of people close to Narayanasamy in the PCC have decided to field him and after adopting the resolution, conveyed the decision to the AICC. Neither was any wish list sought nor were the members of the party consulted or their views elicited before taking the decision,” Vetriselvam told a press conference.
Though AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been maintaining that an opportunity to contest would be given to upcoming youth in the field, the same candidate (Narayanasamy) is being given the opportunity since 1985. Congress cadre claimed that when they expressed their dissatisfaction to their leader P Kannan, he tried to pacify them and dissuade them from taking the extreme step. However, the cadre did not go back on their decision and will soon be sending in their resignation to the PCC president, Vetriselvam said.