TNCC chief submits report on Congress - DMk discord, warns partymen not to speak about alliance

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K Selvaperunthagai met AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge in Bengaluru on Monday and submitted a report on the alleged discord with DMK in the wake of remarks made by Congress MP B Manickam Tagore.Tagore had been raising the demand for power sharing over the past several days. Besides demanding Madurai North seat, he accused DMK leaders of disrespecting Congress and that Congress had shared the burden of DMK's mistakes in the past - remarks that did not go down well with the DMK leadership.
"I submitted a report on the controversies created in the last three days regarding the alliance issue in Tamil Nadu. Our party president will take the final call," Selvaperunthagai told reporters after the meeting in Bengaluru. TNCC sources said Selvaperunthagai urged Kharge to initiate action against Tagore. "He conveyed that the DMK leadership was unhappy with Tagore's remarks and that if such statements continued, it could strain the alliance. He submitted a detailed report and sought intervention from the high command to ensure discipline," sources said. Before leaving for Bengaluru, Selvaperunthagai issued an indirect warning to party functionaries at the Chennai airport, cautioning them against speaking publicly about alliance matters. "Only the AICC leadership will speak about the alliance in public. Others should refrain from commenting. Both the AICC and TNCC leadership are clear that functionaries should not speak about alliance issues in public," he said. "Our leader Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that none except the leadership should speak about the alliance. Are there anyone bigger than Rahul and Kharge?" he asked. The development comes a day after Tagore held a meeting of Congress functionaries in Madurai where resolutions were passed seeking a share in power, additional assembly seats and 30% representation in local body elections. A similar resolution was adopted at a meeting in Tirupattur. When asked about the resolutions, Selvaperunthagai said he was unaware of them.