Chennai: A large section of the Congress rank and file in Tamil Nadu is upset and confused. Upset because chief minister M K Stalin refused to accept their demand for power sharing and confused due to mixed signals from the party leadership.While TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai adopted a conciliatory approach, Congress MP Manickam Tagore chose an assertive tone asking, “How could a request for a share in public service be considered a conspiracy?” He was referring to Stalin’s remark that there was an attempt to create a rift between DMK and Congress.
More than the diverse positions of these state leaders, its the silence of the national leadership that has left the grassroot level Congress men in TN confused. There has been no response yet from national leaders, including AICC incharge for TN Girish Chodankar, on Stalin’s rejection of power-sharing demand.Though there is no formal dissent, Congress functionaries in districts said they were disappointed with the way DMK “was treating them”. They say that despite being an ally of the ruling party, there was no “dividends”. “For instance, in the govt advocate panel, the DMK did not give sufficient representation to TNCC advocates,” said a functionary. Also, the demands of Congress MLAs and MPs for constituency welfare were not met, he said.Another Congress functionary at the state-level said the DMK “acted against them” in the local body elections. “In 2006 elections, the DM won only 96 seats, and we enabled it to form govt with our 36 MLAs. We are facing the the consequence of that decision,” Abdul Salam, national convener, Tamil Nadu Student Congress, told ToI.Some functionaries said they would support the idea of aligning with TVK if the leadership brings it up.“Even as some of our leaders are critcising DMK, we are being asked to participate in the protest against BJP govt on Thursday and share stage with DMK,” a Congress functionary said.
