TMC may not challenge Cong. move on Trust

By Radha Venkatesan

CHENNAI, SEPT. 3. While the sudden move by the Congress to wrest control of the TNCC Charitable Trust has taken the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) by surprise, the party is unlikely to challenge legally the appointment of new trustees.

Senior TMC leaders, who went into a huddle at the party headquarters, Sathyamurthy Bhavan, today, decided to leave it to the new president, Mr. G.K. Vasan, to ``amicably resolve the issue with the Congress high command''.

Though most senior leaders were unhappy with the Congress move the party would not go for the legal jugular, sources in the TMC said. For, the Trust bylaws clearly state that the TNCC working committee has the sole right to nominate trustees.

The TMC's priority was to construct the proposed Rs. 1 crore- memorial for G.K. Moopanar at the Congress grounds, where he was cremated on August 31. Senior party leaders conceded that they needed the concurrence of the Congress-dominated Trust, before starting the project.

Barring the senior TMC leaders, Mr. N. Ramasamy Udayar and Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan, other trustees are from the Congress.

After the meeting, the party spokesman, Mr. B.S. Gnanadesikan, said Trust-related developments had not been discussed; they only finalised the date and places for immersing Moopanar's ashes. On September 15, the ashes would be immersed at Kanyakumari, Rameswaram, Bhavani, Thiruvaiyaru, Srirangam and Pondicherry. In an indication that the TMC was for continuance of ``friendly relations with the Congress'', Mr. Udayar said the issue would be resolved amicably.

Interestingly, the appointment of trustees has put a question mark over the 18-storeyed commercial complex, which was to come up on the Congress grounds. The former chairman of the Trust, Mr. P. Ramachandran, had signed a contract with a Mumbai-based promoter for the Rs. 110 crore-complex, which when completed would be the tallest building in the city. The `bhoomi puja' for the building was performed on August 26, four days before Moopanar breathed his last.

Meanwhile, the Trust Secretary, Mr. R. Varadharajulu, referring to a report in these columns (Sept. 2), denied stating that the appointments were legally valid.

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