Already weakened in TN, Cong suffers another blow
NEW DELHI: Weakened by the exit of former Union minister GK Vasan, the resignation of another senior leader Jayanthi Natarajan has further dented the Congress in Tamil Nadu.
The Congress is virtually leaderless in the state and a powerful section is of the view that ex-Union ministers P Chidambaram and Mani Shankar Aiyar are no mass leaders with have no support base in the state unit.
State leaders have often given assurances to the central leadership of bringing the Kamaraj rule back in the state but that appears to be a distant dream now.
Rumblings in the state unit escalated after the Congress failed to win even a single seat in the last year’s Lok Sabha elections. Karti Chidambaram had recently The four-time RS MP is a lawyer and was first elected to the upper house in 1986
Between June 1997 and March 1998 she served as Minister of State for civil aviation and parliamentary affairs in the United Front government
Served as member of joint parliamentary committee to examine matters relating to allocation and pricing of telecom licences, spectrum in 2011
questioned the authority of Tamil Nadu Congress chief EVKS Elangovan in issuing show-cause notice to him.
Besides, the exodus at various levels has severely hit the party’s revival process in the southern state. Party workers and leaders have blamed general secretary in-charge, Tamil Nadu, Mukul Washnik of mishandling party affairs. From 2011 to 2013 she was MoS (independent charge) for environment and forests A Rajiv Gandhi pick, she had also served as Cong spokesperson till she became a Union minister in 2011
Had left Congress to join Tamil Maanila Congress founded by GK Moopanar in 1990s. She returned to the Congress fold after the TMC merged with the Congress in 2002.
The only good news for the demoralised Congress has been the induction of actor-turnedpolitician Khushboo, who quit the DMK.
After the DMK snapped its ties with the Congress, the party has no alliance partner in TN which forced the party to abandon its plan to field a candidate in a by-poll from Srirangam.