CHENNAI: Fresh after being appointed as the president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC), senior leader B Manickam Tagore will chair the executive committee meeting in Chennai on Monday where the party would formulate its political strategy, review preparedness for the upcoming local body elections, and chart its organisational expansion across the State.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Tagore said the meeting would finalise plans to strengthen the party's grassroots presence and reinforce its long-term secular alliance with the ruling TVK and VCK.
"The executive committee meeting will discuss the Congress’s next course of action. Important announcements regarding the local body elections and organisational expansion will be made. We are also ways to take our alliance, which is rooted in public welfare and social justice, to the next level," Tagore said.
This will be the first executive committee meeting since Tagore assumed charge as State unit leader and is expected to set the tone for his tenure. Sources said he is also expected to send a strong message to the faction within the TNCC perceived to be aligned with the DMK, asking its leaders to work in line with the party's organisational direction.
During the press briefing, he said Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar was acting as an "agent of the BJP" to undermine the democratically elected State government at the behest of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
His remarks come in the wake of the political controversy triggered by Governor Arlekar's recent review meeting with senior government officials at the Madurai Circuit House. Following the incident, the government directed officials not to attend any review meetings convened by the Governor without prior approval.
Launching an attack on the BJP-led Union government, Tagore alleged large-scale financial irregularities in donations collected for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. "This is a massive shock for everyone. A major organised corruption has taken place right under the nose of the trust leadership, who are known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yet, the Prime Minister and BJP leaders remain silent," he alleged.
Tagore also criticised the Union government for altering the funding pattern of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) after rebranding it as VB G-RAM G.
He alleged that the Union government's share of funding had been reduced from 90 per cent to 60 per cent, forcing the State to bear the remaining 40 per cent. According to him, the change has imposed an additional burden of Rs 5,000 crore on the State exchequer.