Chennai: A faction of the Tamil Nadu Congress in Sivaganga, a celebration stronghold, handed a decision earlier this month to not renominate Karti P. Chidambaram, son of veteran celebration chief P. Chidambaram, from the constituency for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Nevertheless, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has blamed the act on “rebels”, saying one other decision handed by native leaders had endorsed Karti’s candidature from the seat.
At a 3 February assembly led by former Union minister E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan and former Congress Legislature Social gathering chief Okay.R. Ramasamy, it was determined that Karti had “hurt Congressmen” together with his remarks final month “in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”. He was referring to a TV interview the place Karti was requested if Rahul Gandhi might be a match for the PM.
Ramasamy can be the state Congress unit’s disciplinary motion committee chairman.
Reached for remark, Natchiappan mentioned: “Karti’s way of speaking in favour of Modi in comparison to Rahul ji (Congress leader Rahul Gandhi) hurt the feelings of Congress voters and alliance partners.”
Nevertheless, AICC coordinator for Sivaganga constituency, N. Arul Pethiah, advised ThePrint that “another resolution endorsing Karti’s candidature has been passed by 95 percent of the Sivaganga district Congress committee, and by block presidents from the six assembly constituencies that fall under the Sivaganga Lok Sabha seat”.
Arul went on to time period the assembly towards Karti a “rebel meeting”.
He mentioned it was “shocking and unbecoming” that the disciplinary motion committee chairman was additionally current on the assembly.
The Congress and the DMK are in the course of seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha elections, and Sivaganga is a key topic within the discussions. Sources from the Congress and the DMK advised ThePrint that each are eyeing the seat for themselves.
In accordance with Arul, he had been despatched by the AICC to Sivaganga to satisfy the district and block committee members there to grasp the bottom scenario.
With the assistance of the Sivaganga district committee, three conferences had been held, with every assembly overlaying two meeting constituencies, he mentioned.
“The meetings with the office-bearers, block leaders, and town presidents were completed smoothly and the popular opinion of Karti as a candidate for the Lok Sabha polls was confirmed,” he added.
He additional mentioned that “the details of the rebel meeting”, findings of the AICC within the district committee conferences, and the decision in favour of Karti had all been conveyed to the Congress excessive command.
ThePrint reached Karti by way of mail and name with queries however the Sivaganga MP refused to touch upon the difficulty.
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Eye on Sivaganga
Final month, in an interview to a Tamil TV channel, whereas responding to a query on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge being a match for Modi, Karti had mentioned: “Considering today’s propaganda machine, no one is a match for Modi.”
To a follow-up query on whether or not Gandhi might be a match, Karti replied: “In a one-to-one match, and considering the propaganda machine and considering Modi’s natural advantage as PM, it is difficult.”
Talking to ThePrint, Natchiappan mentioned round 95 % of celebration office-bearers had supported their decision on the grounds that an individual “speaking against Rahul Gandhi and praising Modi should not be given another chance as it will not bring good results in the polls”.
Sivaganga, a Congress fortress, elected P. Chidambaram seven instances as MP. When Karti emerged as a probable successor, his nomination is believed to have been opposed by a faction throughout the Congress.
Natchiappan had himself gained the seat as a Congress candidate in 1999. “He has been eyeing the seat for a long time. In 2014 and 2019, too, he opposed Karti’s candidature,” mentioned a senior Congress chief on the situation of anonymity.
“There is nothing wrong in others hoping to get the seat. Chidambaram held on to it for a long time,” he added.
In 2014, Karti was pushed to the fourth place after the AIADMK, DMK, and BJP in Sivaganga, however gained the seat with 52.36 % of the votes within the 2019 polls.
In accordance with senior DMK leaders, following the primary spherical of DMK-Congress seat-sharing talks, the celebration’s Sivaganga unit has requested that the seat be allotted to the DMK.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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