CHENNAI: Former Union Minister, P Chidambaram,on Saturday, challenged TNCC president EVKS Elangovan’s expulsion of six party functionaries in Coimbatore district, who are reportedly supporters of Chidambaram.
“I am shocked to learn about the expulsion of six members of the party in Coimbatore district. A member cannot be expelled without seeking his explanation and without conducting a proper enquiry besides getting the approval of the disciplinary action committee. I strongly condemn the expulsion of these members. The AICC should intervene in this matter and take appropriate action,” Chidambaram said in a statement here.
The TNCC president, speaking to Express, declined to make a comment on Chidambaram’s statement.
However he did say, “Recently, there was a public meeting held at Coimbatore to condemn the announcement of Hindu Maha Sabha on installing the statue of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse, in which leaders of the Congress, Left parties, VCK, DK and others took part. After the meeting was over, I was returning in a car which was attacked by a group of persons. Somehow, I escaped that attack. Later, the Coimbatore District Congress Committee identified the persons involved in the incident and expelled them for their misconduct and received my approval for that.”
The six Coimbatore-based supporters of Chidambaram, who have been expelled from the TNCC are Kovai Selvan, V Thirumurthi, Kattoor Somu, A M Rafeeq, Srinivasan and J Hariharan.
On January 30, when former Union Minister Jayanthi Natarajan quit the Congress, Elangovan thanked her for quitting even before the party had expelled her. He went on to add, “Certainly, with your exit, the Congress party will be cleansed manifold. If one more person and his heir leave the party, the TNCC will get salvation.”
Irked by the apparent reference to Chidambaram and his son, Karti, Chidambaram’s followers rose against Elangovan. The Congress High Command also disapproved of Elangovan’s comment.