Sathyamurthy Bhavan, the headquarters of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC), witnessed tense moments when a section of leaders took exception to the placing of late MP H. Vasanthakumar’s portrait alongside that of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, whose birth anniversary was celebrated on Thursday. The portrait of Vasanthakumar, whose birth anniversary also falls on April 14, was removed for a brief moment but restored to the earlier place at the intervention of Congress MLA Rubi Manoharan.
The objection to keeping Vasanthakumar’s portrait had come from Selvaperunthagai, the leader of the Congress Legislative Party.
“When reporters asked me about the party’s plan to club the birthdays of Ambedkar and Vasanthakumar, I told them it was unlikely to happen. Ambedkar is a national leader while Vasanthakumar was a member of the Congress family. When I went to the party office, I saw both the portraits. I told the leaders it was not a [good] practice,” Mr Selvaperunthagai told The Hindu.
