CHENNAI: Leaders of faction-ridden Tamil Nadu Congress Committee are fighting with each other yet again, this time to get ticket for their sons and immediate family members. Besides the infamous quota system for allocation of tickets to factions, the ‘son rise’ fight is causing much trouble to All India Congress Committee which is finding it extremely difficult to finalise candidates for remaining eight seats. Congress had on Tuesday night released the list of candidates for 33 constituencies, but kept on hold finalising candidates for remaining eight seats due to lack of consensus among various factions.
Sources in TNCC and AICC told Deccan Chronicle that ‘son rise’ fight is on in at least three constituencies and decision on candidates of remaining four to five seats has been kept pending due to differences between TNCC chief E. V. K. S. Elangovan and his bête noire and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. The seats in contention are Kankeyam, Sivakasi, Srivaikundam and Kiliyoor. Intense lobbying is on between the factions of Elangovan and former MP R.Anbarasu with the latter rooting for his son as candidate from Maduravoyal seat in Chennai. The former pitching for Na.Se. Rajesh, youth Congress leader and son of TNCC treasurer Na.Se. Ramachandran.
“The dilemma in Congress is on whom to choose because both claimants are young and willingly contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when even senior leaders were hesitant to enter the fray. The party wanted to give seats to leaders who contested the 2014 polls but here the problem is both want the same seat,” a senior leader said. Since Elangovan is solidly behind Rajesh, it is likely he would be nominated from Maduravoyal. He had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Arakonam. Former TNCC chief M. Krishnaswamy is sweating it out to get Cheyyar constituency in Tiruvannamalai district for his son K. Vishnuprasad, who won the seat in 2006.
However, his candidature is being strongly opposed by advocate and party’s prominent television face Sudha who also wants to contest from there. Already, AICC secretary S. Thirunavukarasar has got Aranthangi and former MP J. M. Haroon, Ambattur seat for their sons. The battle royale for Congress seat is in Mylapore in the heart of Chennai where TNCC chief wants to field actor Khushbu, but is being strongly contested by Chidambaram’s confidante “Karate’ R. Thyagarajan. Former TNCC chief K V. Thangkabalu wants this seat for his wife Jayanthi or for his son. Jayanthi was Congress nominee in Mylapore in 2011, but Thangkabalu became the candidate after her nomination papers were rejected.
