CHENNAI: The brief but eventful stint of the State Mahila Congress president, S Vijayadharini, came to an abrupt end on Friday, just five months after the Vilavancode MLA was appointed to the post. Party insiders perceive this as a sign of TNCC president EVKS Elangovan’s increasing clout with party high command, as Vijayadharini had a running feud with him in the recent past.
She has now been replaced with M Jansi Rani, the granddaughter of AS Ponnammal, the former seven-time Congress MLA from Dindigul, who had passed away recently.
“I have been working like Mamata Banerjee in Tamil Nadu for the growth of Congress party in the State. My removal has taken place only under pressure from Elangovan. Instead of taking action against him, who had erred, action has been taken against me, the affected one. It is a very strange development in Congress. Definitely, Sonia Gandhi would not have taken such a decision. I will seek an audience with the Congress high command,” said a visibly upset Vijayadharini while speaking to the media.
Terming her removal from the post as unfair, Vijayadharini added that if she failed to receive an audience with the leadership to clarify her stand, she would take a decision on the next step.
Recently, she had locked horns with Elangovan, and her supporters lodged police complaints against the TNCC chief. She then sent a representation to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi seeking Elangovan’s removal as TNCC president. She had alleged that abusing women had become a habit for him, warning that his continuance would not help the party ahead of the Assembly elections.
Meanwhile, Elangovan told reporters at Ranipet that he would not comment on the matter and would not respond to any of her remarks. The new president Jansi Rani said according to her information, Vijayadharani had opted to step down due to workload as she had to function as MLA also.