CHENNAI: The Congress has lost one of its last few bastions in the country Puducherry. Will that affect the grand old party’s prospects in Tamil Nadu? Not to take a chance, well ahead of the Monday shocker in the Union Territory, the party in Tamil Nadu appointed 150 key workers and election in-charges across the State to ensure success.
The party is acutely conscious that it is perceived as the weakest link in the DMK alliance, given that it won just eight out of the 41 seats it contested in 2016. The poll in-charges, two for each of the party’s 75 district units, have been given the task of ensuring victory for the alliance, regardless of how many seats it gets allocated by the DMK this time.
“We don’t know which or how many constituencies we would be allocated, but we want to strengthen the basic party structure, including at the level of booth agents and cadres, and maintain a cordial relationship with allies to strengthen cooperation,” said GK Muralidharan, the party’s State general secretary, and poll in-charge of Dindigul urban district.
“We have been told to meet the booth committee agents and ground-level cadre at regular intervals to keep them enthused as we are facing off against parties ruling at the State and the Centre,” he said. “We want to reap the fruits of Rahul Gandhi’s hard labour,” he added, referring to Gandhi’s campaigns in the State.
The poll in-charges are expected to make enquiries about potential candidates and provide ground reports that will be used to draft the party’s poll strategy. “The Congress has to show the country and world that secular forces can achieve if they are united,” Muralidharan added.