Stop in-fighting, Rahul’s diktat to TNCC

In a close-door meeting of a few leaders at Sathyamurthy Bhavan and at a hotel on the second day of his stay in the city, Rahul had warned leaders not to go public against the incumbent TNCC president. 

Sources privy to the meeting said that the Congress VP snubbed a leader when he attempted to make a point about the TNCC chief. He had asked state leaders to approach the TNCC president and iron out their differences, if there were any, locally and not bring all their differences with the TNCC president to him. He had also warned of stringent action against functionaries violating his diktat and criticising Thirunavukkarasar. 

The TNCC chief was the target of a few leaders, mainly his predecessor EVKS Elangovan, who went hammer and tongs against him for his alleged unusual rapport with a section of the ruling AIADMK.  Admitting that his boss had issued a stricture against in-fighting, Thirunavukkarasar said, “He did not name any leader, but he generally warned leaders not to apprise media about internal party differences.” 

“If you are found violating the diktat, stringent action would be taken by me,” Thirunavukkarasar quoted Rahul as saying at a meeting in the city. 

A word of support and that too from Rahul himself, has re-energised Thirunavukkarasar, who has not been in the best of terms with the AICC since the high command vetoed his request to bifurcate the party districts recently. The meeting in which Rahul had rapped detractors had happened only by chance. 

A visit to Sathyamurthy Bhavan was in fact not in Rahul’s itinerary. But for the narrow window between his visit to DMK president M Karunanidhi’s Gopalapuram residence in the morning and his subsequent meeting at Hyderabad scheduled for 2 pm, the Congress poster boy would not have set foot on Bhavan corridors during his southern sojourn. 

Notably, AICC in charge for Tamil Nadu Mukul Wasnik had also played his part in Rahul acquiescing to Thirunavukkarasar’s request.