The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Tindivanam Ramamurthy floats forum

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Friday, Jan 27, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tindivanam Ramamurthy floats forum

Special Correspondent

Former TNCC chief says similar fora had functioned in the party

MADURAI: Former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president, Tindivanam K. Ramamurthy, on Thursday announced formation of the Annai Indira Gandhi Peravai to "preserve the self respect" of the Congress party in the State.

Addressing newspersons here, Mr. Ramamurthy said the forum would organise party meetings, "as there are no organisational units below the district level." It would not function as "another Congress." Party workers across the State wanted to preserve their self-respect and hence the formation of the forum.

Recalls past

Recalling that similar fora had functioned in the party in the past, besides the organisational set up, Mr. Ramamurthy said Tamil Nadu Congressmen had even differed with the views of Mahatma Gandhi.

He argued that "internal discussions" on party issues was a "mirage" as "nothing can be a secret" in a people's party like the Congress. "The right to expression has always been there in the party." He also claimed that the forum had the backing of veteran Congress leader G. Bhuvaragan and some former MPs, MLAs and DCC presidents.

Seeks 60 seats

Clarifying that he was not "fighting for seats" in the Assembly elections, Mr. Ramamurthy said the situation that prevailed during the Lok Sabha elections should not be repeated in the Assembly polls. The Congress did not get to contest even a single seat in the northern districts in the 2004 elections. But it should get a minimum of 60 seats in the in the Assembly elections.

He did not want to speculate on what would happen if the leading DPA constituent, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, denied the Congress its "rightful share," saying the question was hypothetical.

The Congress, he said, could not contest on its own in Tamil Nadu and should not keep away from the "coalition wave" sweeping the nation. The party had always upheld secular principles and the DPA was formed in the State only to protect secularism. There was no room for casteism or communalism, he added.

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