CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K Selvaperunthagai on Tuesday said the party's high command would decide on Rajya Sabha seat matters, following the Election Commission's announcement of elections.
Addressing reporters at the Chennai airport, he alleged that the Election Commission was not functioning independently and claimed that the Rajya Sabha poll notification had been issued in haste. "What Prime Minister Narendra Modi says is what the Election Commission does, " he said.
On the prospects of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha elections, Selvaperunthagai said the matter would be discussed and decided by the All India Congress Committee leadership in consultation with alliance partners. "We will inform the media once a decision is taken, " he said.
He expressed confidence that seat-sharing talks for the upcoming Assembly elections would be held on the 22nd and added that AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal need not visit Tamil Nadu for negotiations, as a five-member committee led by Girish Chodankar would handle the discussions.
Hitting out at AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, he said the latter had no moral right to comment on women's safety under the DMK regime without recalling incidents such as the Pollachi and Vachathi cases.
He also asserted that repeated visits by Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah would not bring political change in Tamil Nadu, describing the State as a land of social justice where the BJP and RSS could not easily gain ground.