CHENNAI: Rejecting Congress veteran P Chidambaram’s view that a person outside the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty would some day lead the grand old party, his former cabinet colleague and fierce factional rival, G K Vasan, said none in the Congress dream of such a future.
“Leader or cadre, no Congress member from Kashmir to Kanyakumari wants a person from non-Gandhi clan to be the Congress president. There is no such idea,” he told the media, on the sidelines of a function to observe the 12th death anniversary of late TNCC president and union minister, Vazhappadi Ramamurthy, here on Monday.
Chidambaram’s comment about the possibility of a person outside the Congress’ first family leading the party had triggered a minor controversy, which Vasan seems to have latched on.
Incidentally, Vasan, a local strongman, has not been in the good books of the high command in the past few years. The leader of State youth wing from his faction was removed by the national leadership much to his chagrin, and there were consistent rumours about reviving the Tamil Manila Congress, the splinter his father, late GK Moopanar, had formed which eventually merged with the parent party.
Vasan and Chidambaram are the two tallest leaders from Tamil Nadu, who have divided the TNCC among themselves.