High command sending Azad to Chennai

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI, JULY 19. The current round of infighting in the TNCC appears to have reached a flashpoint. The party high command has asked the AICC General Secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad to visit Chennai on Saturday to take stock of the situation in the State unit, following a fresh round of dissidence.

Meanwhile the beleaguered TNCC president, Mr. Elangovan reached the capital this evening with his supporters to press his case before the party leadership. The demand for Mr. Elangovan's ouster have grown shriller with the CWC member and party MP from the State, Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar also lending his voice to those demanding the TNCC chief's removal.

The latest provocation appears to be the alleged speech of Mr. Elangovan delivered at a function in Chennai to celebrate the 99th birth anniversary of Kamaraj. At the meeting Mr. Elangovan apparently said that at the next birth anniversary the Congress should try and have a Government of its own both at the Centre and in the State. Predictably this has got the goat of the AIADMK supporters and the TNCC chief has been accused of trying to wreck the alliance.

The TNCC chief on his part maintains that as a loyal Congressman there was nothing wrong in his expressing a desire that his party form governments at both Chennai and Delhi. ``At Kamaraj's birthday function if one does not talk of ushering in Kamaraj rule what else will one talk of'' asks Dr. Jaykumar, party MLA.

Meanwhile four of the seven party MLAs from the State are also in Delhi to meet the Congress president and apprise her of the situation. The MLA team includes Mr. S. Maheshwari, Mr. T. N. V. Subramaniam, Dr. K. Jaykumar and Mr. H.M. Raju. These leaders want the high command to take action against those who have been running a constant campaign against the TNCC chief. They also want Mr. Elangovan to be given a free hand in running the State unit without interference from AICC functionaries. The MLAs, obviously supporters of Mr. Elangovan, also plan to support the statement made by the TNCC chief at the Kamaraj birth anniversary function.

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