Rahul's efforts will go vain, money power only criteria for candidate selection: Mahila Congress leader hits out at TNCC

CHENNAI: The former president of Tamil Nadu Mahila Congress (TMNC), ASP Jansi Rani, alleged that money power is the only criteria to be a Congress candidate.

Jansi Rani made the allegation after she did not get a ticket to contest the Assembly election from the Nilakottai constituency.

In a string of tweets, the former TMNC chief, who is the granddaughter of seven-time Congress MLA AS Ponnammal, targeted the party.

"I have been an Indian National Congress loyalist all along and belong to a traditional Congress family. My grandmother AS Ponnammal was elected as MLA seven times, of which five times was from Nilakottai. Yet the TNCC did not deem it fit to field me in the same constituency where I have worked for the last seven years." said Jansi Rani in a tweet.

She also accused the state Congress of having a discriminatory approach towards her.

"I have always felt the approach of TNCC president was discriminatory. He had proved it this time by asking if I have money to spend for elections. Is money power the only criteria to be a Congress candidate?" she further tweeted.

Expressing disappointment, she added that all efforts of Rahul Gandhi to rebuild the party in the state only will go in vain.

"Does not my labour and background count? It is sad that all efforts of our leader Rahul Gandhi to rebuild the party in Tamil Nadu only go in vain," she tweeted.

The assembly elections in Tamil Nadu will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the counting of votes will be done on May 2. Polls will be held for 234 seats in the state with the Congress-DMK and BJP-AIADMK alliance being the major groups contesting against each other.