AICC Issues Showcause Notice To Kannan

PUDUCHERRY: The AICC, on Friday, issued a showcause notice to its senior leader and Rajya Sabha member P Kannan, asking him to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him for alleged anti-party activities, and was asked to furnish a reply within seven days.

Mukul Wasnik, AICC general secretary in-charge of political affairs of Puducherry, sent the notice to Kannan and directed him to explain the reasons for not working for the victory of party candidate V Narayanasamy in the last Lok Sabha elections.

Further, Mukul sought an explanation from Kannan on making a ‘highly irresponsible’ statement to the media, which had gone against the interest of the party.

In the wake of the arrest of AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalitha, Kannan, while extending his moral support to her, had said there were others  who would be in prison (for graft), including some associated with the PMO office in the previous UPA government if the CBI and other agencies handled the 2G spectrum case in a proper way.

Several persons involved in the scam were roaming free, he said, in an oblique reference to Narayanasamy

After the Lok Sabha elections, the Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) had approached the party high command to take disciplinary action against Kannan for his failure to campaign for Narayanasamy, party’s candidate in the Lok Sabha elections.

Kannan, the former Minister who began his political career in the Youth Congress and had been in and out of the party several times on his own choice, had distanced himself from the party for quite sometime now, following differences with  Narayanasamy. 

Many supporters of  Kannan in the party resigned en-masse on March 14 to register their protest against the re-nomination of Narayanasamy as the party candidate for Lok Sabha polls. They have been insisting on fielding young blood and expressed dissatisfaction with the party for providing an opportunity to Narayanasamy again and again. Kannan, however, maintained a low profile and other senior Congress leaders’ effort to bring him for electioneering in favour of Narayanasamy turned futile.