Chennai: Senior Congress leader and Karur MP Jothimani has alleged that internal factionalism has reached a level that routine election processes are being obstructed from within the party.
The long-simmering tension within the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee has resurfaced, this time with Congress MP Jothimani publicly accusing the party of preventing her from submitting a list of polling booth agents to the election commission before the upcoming state polls.
“No political party would ever think of obstructing its own parliamentary members from submitting the list of polling booth agents to the election commission during election time. Yet, this is happening in the Congress party,” Jothimani said in a post on X.
After the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly completes its term on 10 May, the state elections are projected to take place in 2026. The Bharatiya Janata Party, since its fresh election in-charge appointments last month, has been giving its best to expand its footprint in Tamil Nadu this election.
In this backdrop, what is unfolding in the Tamil Nadu Congress “is a source of profound concern”, Jothimani said, claiming that internal attempts were underway to dilute the party’s policy positions and political actions.
“Day after day, the Tamil Nadu Congress finds itself in the news for all the wrong reasons, unrelated to people’s issues,” she said.
Placing the internal turmoil within a wider political context, Jothimani warned that Tamil Nadu faced “an unprecedented peril from communalist, separatist, and violent forces”.
She alleged that some groups are lying in wait, “ready to exploit any opportunity to incite public sentiments, seize power, and bury the social justice, self-respect, people’s welfare, politics, and development of this land”.
“These are values that were steadfastly safeguarded by great leaders, like Perunthalaivar Kamarajar and Periyar,” Jothimani said, stressing that under such conditions, “all political parties bear the responsibility to handle the impending election with the utmost care”.
Saying this, she questioned whether the Congress leadership in Tamil Nadu truly understood the seriousness of the moment.
“It is impossible to avoid the question of whether the Congress party truly grasps the magnitude of this responsibility,” she said.
Referring to the party’s long absence from power in the state, Jothimani said that despite being out of office for over six decades, Congress workers had continued to carry the party’s flag to every village.
“We must not abandon the Congress workers who have proudly carried the Congress flag in every village, nor the Tamil Nadu people who remain steadfast in fighting for social justice, self-respect, and state rights, without bowing to communalist and separatist conspiracies,” she said.
The MP said the persistence of unchecked internal conflicts was causing “profound disillusionment” among the cadre.
“Without steadfastly advancing principled politics, without speaking about people’s issues, and merely engaging in petty factional squabbles, the Tamil Nadu Congress is gradually heading down the path of destruction for the selfish gains of a few,” she said.
She also warned that the current trajectory of the state unit continued to be at odds with the political approach of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
“The Tamil Nadu Congress is veering onto a path directly opposed to Leader Rahul Gandhi’s selfless, policy-driven, fearless politics. We cannot betray his tireless hard work and unparalleled sacrifices,” she said.
Later, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President K. Selvaperunthagai played down her statement, referring to the discourse as a petty issue between the district secretary and the MP.
“I am shocked at her reaction on social media. It was a petty issue over appointing BLOs between her and the district secretary,” he said.
The cracks
This is not the first time that the Congress party’s internal factionalism has come to the fore.
Earlier, TNCC president K. Selvaperunthagai said that he filed a formal complaint with the All India Congress Committee president against his party colleague, Praveen Chakravarty, for comparing Tamil Nadu’s finances unfavourably with Uttar Pradesh.
While MPs, including Jothimani, condemned Praveen Chakravarty’s comments on the state’s finances, a section of the TN Congress is in favour of his remarks. Expressing displeasure over the TNCC, A.P. Surya Prakasam, a member of the TNCC assets and properties restoration committee, Friday resigned from his post.
“I do not want to work under Selvaperunthagai, who slandered his own partymen, Praveen Chakravarty, over Tamil Nadu’s debt of Rs 10 lakh crore. He is also not supporting the views of the party men who want to ally with the TVK (Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam). Hence, I have resigned from the party’s primary membership,” he said in his letter to the TNCC president.
Asked about it, Selvaperunthagai said that he had been functioning within his capacity as the president of TNCC. “Party’s political strategy and alliance strategies are decided by the national leadership, and we function within our limits,” Selvaperunthagai told ThePrint.
Nevertheless, a senior Congress MP from the southern district told ThePrint that discussing internal factionalism in public is unnecessary now, considering the state is headed for an assembly election.
“As Congressmen, we have a greater responsibility than fighting over internal factionalism. Instead of fighting internally, I would recommend our Congressmen contest the BJP at the state and national levels. Internal friction is common in any party, and so is Congress as well,” a senior Congress MP from the southern district told ThePrint.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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