Asked by the media whether he would take action against Tagore, he said, “I have been called by the party high command to discuss this and the prevailing political situation. Going against democracy and defying the high command’s instructions is wrong.”

A day earlier, Tagore had repeated his comments on Congress deserving a share in power in the next government and even cautioned that the party functionaries would hit back at DMK leaders if the latter criticised them unfairly. Making matters worse, some of the speakers at the executive committee meeting of the Madurai South District Committee, which Tagore had chaired, even said the Congress was not seeking a share in the loot – a comment that TVK leader Vijay had made a few days ago.

When the media sought his comment about Tagore’s repeated remarks, Selvaperunthagai said he was not aware of the matter.

“As president of TNCC, I strictly follow the AICC’s instructions. We have been told not to talk about alliances in public fora. Our leaders, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal, have told us not to publicly express views. I don’t know if there’s anyone bigger than these leaders in the Congress,” he said.

The Congress president said his party had already constituted the five-member committee under Girish Chodankar for holding talks with the DMK on seat-sharing. “No one should speak their views. This is what the AICC leadership said and it is also my view,” Selvaperunthagai insisted.

Tagore’s repeated assertions despite Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin rejecting coalition government idea has caused a flutter in the political circles in Tamil Nadu, with many wondering if he has the tacit approval of the party leadership to raise the matter.