Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday called on the cadre to work towards strengthening the party in Tamil Nadu.
He was addressing the newly elected Congress representatives to the urban local bodies at the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee headquarters here. He said there was a huge opportunity for the party to grow in Tamil Nadu. “If we want to build a strong Congress in the nation, it is necessary we build a strong Congress in Tamil Nadu. For that, we need to stand strongly with the Congress ideology....without any compromise,” he said.
The Congress was in partnership with the DMK but had to do everything to strengthen the alliance. “The best way to do that is to strengthen ourselves, organisationally at the grassroots, rooted among the people of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
The cadre had to work slowly and steadily to build the party. “A strong part of the foundation will be from the women of Congress in Tamil Nadu... They will fight for the rights of the women in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
TNCC president K.S. Alagiri said that whoever might be the party president, the decisions of Mr. Rahul Gandhi would be the decisions of the party.
Minutes before Mr. Gandhi’s arrival, there was a commotion near the stage after former TNCC president E.V.K.S. Elangovan was upset over the seating arrangements due to security protocol. A section of his supporters started shouting and arguing. The commotion lasted for some time before he was given a seat on the stage. Mr. Elangovan said he was not bothered about the insult meted out to him as he was only bothered about the Congress cadre and he had even taken on former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
