K R Ramasamy declared Congress Legislature Party leader in TN

CHENNAI: Four-time MLA K R Ramasamy, considered a loyalist of senior leader P Chidambaram, was declared leader of the Congress Legislature Party in Tamil Nadu on Monday.

TNCC chief E V K S Elangovan formally declared Karaikudi MLA Ramasamy as the CLP leader and S Vijaydharani, elected for the second consecutive term from Vilavancode in Kanyakumari district, as the chief whip. Both the legislators were present at the Satyamurthy Bhavan, the state party headquarters, and were hounoured by draping of shawls by Elangovan. Ramasamy said he would ensure floor coordination with senior alliance partner DMK to play the role of a strong opposition to the ruling AIADMK. DMK has won 89 seats in the election. Congress contesting 41 seats could win only a meagre eight seats.

Signalling a new unity in the party, Vijaydharani also presented a shawl to Elangovan. Vijaydharani was also in the race for CLP leader and was removed as the state Mahila Congress president allegedly at the behest of Elangovan earlier this year following sharp differences between them that had led to a slanging match.

An AICC team comprising former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit and party general secretary in charge of TN, Mukul Wasnik, had met the eight Congress MLAs on Saturday evening to elicit their opinion but failed to reach a consensus. Two other legislators H Vasanthakumar and J G Prince were also aspiring to be CLP leader.The previous CLP leader K Gopinath was defeated in the assembly election.


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