Tension prevailed at Arunachala Mandram the District Congress Committee office near Main Guard Gate on Thursday after supporters of EVKS Elangovan, P Chidambaram and KV Thangkabalu convened a meeting and passed resolution against the TNCC president Su Thirunavukkarasar on Thursday.
Fort Police pacifying two groups of Congress workers at the party’s district office in Tiruchy
Thiruchirapalli:
The cadre charged that Thirunavukkarasar has been giving priority to the workers who had come from parties like the BJP and the AIADMK.
It all started when Thirunavukkarasar was on a tour to establish the booth committee a few weeks back. It is said, the TNCC president had selected the cadre who backed him and so the workers supporting leaders like Elangovan, Chidambaram and Thangkabalu were vexed and even took the issue to their respective
faction leaders. Meanwhile, the anti-Thirunavukkarasar workers had charged that he had been promoting the leaders from Dravidian parties and failed to felicitate the late leaders like Kamarajar. “While the leaders from Congress have been speaking to bring back the King Maker Kamarajar’s regime, the present TNCC president has been talking about MGR rule. He even goes on explaining about his association with MGR and J Jayalalithaa which we do not bother at all,” one of the Elangovan supporters said.
Thus, the dispute among the cadre had come to the fore during the Kamarajar’s birth anniversary celebrations and each group garlanded the statue of the leader separately and even raised slogans against the TNCC chief.
On Thursday, the workers of other factions organised a meeting without the knowledge of the district president Jawahar, who is a strong supporter of Thirunavukkarasar. The members passed resolution against the TNCC chief and decided to send it to the party president Rahul Gandhi. On hearing about the meeting, Jawahar lodged a complaint with the Fort police.
However, the cadre who scheduled the meeting arrived at the Arunachala Mandram at around 11 am but the supporters of Jawahar stopped them and this prompted a heated argument among them. Fort police rushed to the spot and pacified the workers.
Act tough on crime against women’
The state Mahila Congress on Thursday urged the government to ensure safety of women and children by taking stringent action on the accused involved in crime against women.
Mahila Congress functionaries, led by its president Jhansi Rani, met Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan and submitted their representation to her. They demanded stringent action on the accused involved in crime against women and said that the incidents of crime against women had increased in the recent past.
Girija, however, demanded Jhansi Rani to be specific and furnish the list of recent incidents. Following that Jhansi Rani assured her to provide it.
Later, addressing reporters Jhansi Rani said that the safety of women in India is compromised by the inaction of governments against the accused involved in crime against women. She also said that like the Hasini murder case the accused in Ayanavaram rape case should not be given bail and the state should appoint efficient lawyers to argue it.
“Though the attack on the accused inside the court complex is illegal, the lawyers were forced to do so due to government’s indifference in previous cases. I also appreciate the decision of advocates not to appear for any of the accused in the case,” said Jhansi Rani.