Praveen's exhibiting upper-caste mindset, says ex-TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai

CHENNAI: Former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K Selvaperunthagai on Wednesday hit back at Congress Rajya Sabha MP Praveen Chakravarty for questioning his standing in the party, saying such remarks reflected an extension of the communal upper-caste mindset and asserting that he was a Congress worker who wanted Rahul Gandhi to become Prime Minister.

A fresh war of words has erupted within the Tamil Nadu Congress after former TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai questioned the party's alliance strategy and said it would be appropriate to ally with a party that accepted Rahul Gandhi as its Prime Ministerial candidate.

Speaking to reporters in Chennai earlier on Wednesday, Selvaperunthagai had said the Congress should consider whether it was appropriate to continue an alliance with a party that was unwilling to accept Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate.

Reacting to the remarks, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Praveen Chakravarty, while speaking to reporters at Chennai airport, questioned Selvaperunthagai's relevance in the party and asked why he was making what he described as unnecessary comments on the alliance.

Responding through a post on X Selvaperunthagai strongly objected to Chakravarty questioning his identity in the Congress. "A person who calls himself an intellectual asks who Selvaperunthagai is to speak about the alliance, " he said.

He alleged that questioning his identity was an extension of an " upper-caste, communal mindset", referring to an earlier incident in a northern state where, he claimed, a stage used by a Congress leader was washed with water after the leader left.

Selvaperunthagai reiterated his question on Rahul Gandhi's candidature, asking why the Congress should remain in an alliance with anyone who did not accept the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as its Prime Ministerial candidate.

Referring to Chakravarty's claim that the Chief Minister had spoken and laughed with him for a long time, Selvaperunthagai asked whether such interaction constituted an assurance on continuing the alliance. He challenged Chakravarty to clarify whether the Chief Minister or any senior leader of the TVK had agreed to Rahul Gandhi being the Prime Ministerial candidate.

And he said "It is easy to enjoy a position gained without hard work; it is difficult to work hard and build the organisation. The height of a position does not determine a person's political stature; it is their hard work and dedication to the organisation that truly define it"

Also, he noted Congress is bigger than individuals, and its ideology is bigger than positions.

Concluding his statement, Selvaperunthagai declared: "I am a Congress worker who wants Rahul Gandhi to become Prime Minister. I am a son of this soil and an indigenous person, with self-respect."