The Hindu : Front Page : Thirunavukkarasar joins Congress

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Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009
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Thirunavukkarasar joins Congress

J Balaji

Says he is fed up with BJP’s shift towards ‘communal politics’

— Photo: R.V. Moorthy

NEW ENTRANT: Tamil Nadu BJP leader Thirunavukkarasar, who joined the Congress in the presence of Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Home Minister P. Chidambaram, at the AICC Headquarters in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: Su. Thirunavukkarasar, BJP national secretary and former Union Minister of State in the NDA regime, quit the party and his Rajya Sabha membership (elected from Madhya Pradesh) and joined the Congress here on Monday in the presence of party general secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu and Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.V. Thangkabalu were among the Congress leaders present on the occasion in the AICC headquarters. A formal public meeting to mark his joining the Congress would be held in December in Tiruchi.

Mr. Thirunvaukkarasar told The Hindu that he was joining the Congress without any pre-conditions as he was fed up with the BJP’s movement towards “communal politics” guided by the RSS. Moreover, former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, to whom he was attracted, had retired from active politics. In his more than three-decade-long public life, he always wanted to be close to the people. But Tamil Nadu people were not ready to accept the BJP’s policies and the Congress was the only hope for them.

Mr. Azad and Mr. Thangkabalu welcomed Mr. Thirunavukkarasar and said his vast experience and field work would be of much help to the organisation.

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