CHENNAI: The factional war within the Tamil Nadu Congress party has shifted base to Delhi, with the most powerful faction of the state unit now confronting the party high command itself. Following a showdown during a meeting of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president BS Gnanadesikan resigned from his post last Thursday. This has left the party high command with little choice but to either stop ignoring the factional war or be ready for a split.
The trigger this time was an instruction from the AICC that the membership cards issued by the state unit should only carry pictures of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The cards presently also carry pictures of Tamil Nadu Congress stalwarts K Kamaraj and GK Moopanar.
Moopanar was the father of former Union Minister GK Vasan, who heads the most influential faction of the beleaguered party. Gnanadesikan, a Vasan loyalist, said at a press conference on Friday that he had resigned from his post because the leadership in Delhi was stifling him.
“No organisation can grow without giving priority and due consideration to the culture of a state or its leaders as and where required. If AICC does not change the way it functions, the future will be very difficult,” said Gnanadesikan. “They have to understand that an all-India party can only be run on the weight of regional faces,” said Gnanadesikan.
He also complained that the high command had conducted alliance talks with local parties ahead of the recent Lok Sabha polls without consulting him, and that too with a party that had already joined a different front. Another gripe he raised was that members of different factions were talking smut about their rival to leaders in Delhi, who were forming opinions based on this rather than asking the state chief about the scenario.
Sources said another reason for Gnanadesikan’s exit was a threat from the state party in charge Mukul Wasnik that the TNCC president could be changed in two days if he did not comply with instructions from Delhi.
The uncharacteristically direct attack on the high command shows the Vasan faction is looking to force the hand of Delhi into choosing a side. Unspoken but looming is the possibility that a continued failure to address the issue could split the party.
Moopanar had split from the Congress and formed a party called the Tamil Maanila Congress (Tamil State Congress, TMC) in 1996. The party had trounced the Congress party and emerged as a major player in the state. Following his death, Vasan had merged the TMC with the parent party in 2002.
The days of the TMC were the peak of power that Congressmen had seen since they last held power in 1967. The present mood in the Vasan faction is that they can do better in the state if not weighed down by the ineffectual leadership in Delhi.
Other factions, most importantly the one led by former Union Minister P Chidambaram, are now watching the situation closely to try and benefit from any realignment that could happen. Chidambaram had not been part of the TMC in the 1990s, and had instead launched his own party with little success.
Other dramatis personae include former Union Ministers EVKS Elangovan and KV Thangkabaalu—who lead their own cliques. Elangovan is not averse to siding with Vasan when push comes to shove, but Thangkabaalu’s been kept at arm’s length by everyone else.
The new entrant into the game this time however, is the Congress high command. It has systematically steered clear of taking an interest in what is happening within the Tamil Nadu state unit.
Completely out of the loop on the party’s status in Tamil Nadu, the high command is now being forced to look at a state where its lack of relevance is unparalleled across the country. Now, the party is in a sort of suspended animation in Tamil Nadu, with leaders and cadre standing by to see if Delhi will play ball or drop it.