Chennai: Saturday’s reality check at Satyamurthy Bhavan bombed big time. But for condemning Karnataka in Cauvery management board constitution row, reversal of stand in Mullaiperiyar and methane extraction project issues, which were among 16 resolutions adopted at the meeting, very little action was seen at the meeting as most of the rival Chidambaram faction members boycotted the brainstorming session as was reported by DC.
Even TNCC president B.S.Gnanadesikan admitted that 20 absentees (all Chidambaram loyalists) did not give the reason for abstention besides 16 others who cared to inform before hand. Later, reacting to a media query about him directly negotiating truce with Chidambaram, the TNCC chief hesitantly said, “I have been talking to Chidambaram. I will talk to him, if necessary.” An upset Gnanadesikan is learnt to have stated in the close-door meeting that he was not keen on holding to posts. “I am not after posts. Even leaders who had performed better than me were shown the door in the past,” a senior functionary quoted TNCC chief as saying at the day-long meeting. “Congratulations,” was all Gnanadesikan had to say when mediapersons sought his reaction to reported TNCC leadership change.
Not surprisingly, a few speakers, apparently supporters of G.K. Vasan, squarely held former Union finance minister P. Chidambaram responsible for the poll debacle. Another functionary from a delta district offered the much-needed comic relief to an otherwise boring meeting by attributing the party’s failure to the use of EVMs. The speaker presented a CD explaining the vulnerability of EVMs used in foreign countries, thanks to some senior functionaries who intervened and muted the speaker, whose allegation was too difficult to comprehend even by Congress standards.
Unlike in the past when the party strongly supported the methane project in delta and maintained silence in Mullaiperiyar and Cauvery rows, the TNCC this time chose to condemn Karnataka for opposing the CMB constitution and also urged the PWD to closely monitor the Mullaiperiyar catchments to protect state interest. One of the resolutions called for dropping the methane project. It was decided to change functionaries at the block and town levels in amonth.
