Report

TMC Merger Welcomed

Let’s Bring Back Kamaraj Rule in TN

Congress President Sonia Gandhi waving to the crowd at a meeting on 14 Aug. in Madurai where the Congress and the TMC merger was announced. Others present are (L to R) the AICC secretary Ramesh Chennithala, the TMC chief G.K. Vasan, Mani Shankar Aiyer, MP and TNCC president, EVKS Elangovan

MADURAI : Making a new phase in Tamil Nadu politics, the Tamil Maanila Congress rejoined the parent Congress at a huge rally here on 14 August even as the Congress president, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, appointed its president, G.K. Vasan, as the new AICC secretary.

At the merger mela on the outskirts of the temple town, Smt. Gandhi not only assured all the erstwhile TMC men "due respect and positions" but also assigned them the task of "re-establishing" Congress rule in Tamil Nadu where the party has been out of power in the past 35 years now.

Amid a wave of applause Smt. Gandhi said : "History is beckoning us. Let us prepare for the challenge of tomorrow and work towards re-emerging as the major political force in the State." As for the sceptics, she said: "I know we can do it. And, we will do it". Smt. Gandhi focussed on the "sufferings" of various sections of the people in the State - from farmers in 14 drought-hit districts to ryots in Thanjavur reeling under "wrong policies" of paddy procurement to the starving weavers. Touching on the starvation faced by weavers following the withdrawal of the free "dhoti and saree" scheme, Smt. Gandhi asked "every Congressmen" to go to the villages to buy handloom clothes and alleviate the sufferings of the weavers. "During the Congress rule, Tamil Nadu was one among the three best governed States in the country. It is up to all of us to put Tamil Nadu once again on the path of development. "And, the 14 States under Congress rule now were "working for the welfare of people", she added. "We in Tamil Nadu should, one day, bring in Congress rule again in the State," was her refrain. The "best tribute" to Kamaraj in his birth centenary year, was "to re-establish" his rule in the State. "Congressmen should defeat the divisive forces" she said.

All the Congress leaders who addressed the rally, including the AICC, secretary, Ramesh Chennithala, the TNCC president, E.V.K.S. Elangovan, and Mr. Vasan gave a call for ending Dravidian rule in the State and restoring "Kamaraj rule". As the one-hour rally ended, a section of the crowd hailed Mr. Vasan as the "future Chief Minister" of Tamil Nadu.

In Pondicherry, Smt. Gandhi mounted a scathing attack on the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre describing it as "most insensitive" and "indifferent" to the needs of the States. Formalising the merger of the Puducherry Makkal Congress with the Congress, she said that never before the country had such a "heartless" government at the Centre.

Smt. Sonia Gandhi, has on 16 August, 2002 constituted a Co-ordination Committee for Tamilnadu PCC with immediate effect. The following are the members :		Gangadhar Tilak Remembered MHOW : The birth anniversary of Bal Gangadhar Tilak was celebrated under the leadership of the Mhow city Congress president, Shri Kalash Datta pandey. Shri Pandey and several other speakers spoke of the sacrifices made by Tilak for the country, his contribution in the freedom struggle and on his life’s philosophy. Anant Biyani, Ashok Vyas, Mukesh Sharma, Md. Islamuddin, Poonam Aggarwal, Raqueeb Khan, Vijay Kumar, Gabbar Shah, Pankaj Chourasia, Abdul Hafiz, Nasir Bhai, Altaf Babuji and Ajay Raj Soni also participated.
1. Shri E.V.K.S. Elangovan, 2. Shri G.K. Vasan, 3. Shri S.R. Balasubramanyam, 4. Shri Vazhapady Ramamuthy, 5. Shri M.P. Subramanyam, 6. Shri S. Balakrishnan, 7. Shri Kumari Ananthan, 8. Shri G. Buvaraghavan, 9. Shri T. Ramamuthy, 10. Shri S.G. Vinayakamurthy, 11. Smt. D. Yasodha, 12. Shri R. Prabhu, 13. Smt. Jayanti Natrajan, 14. Shri K.V. Thangakabalu, 15. Shri Dhanushkodi Adityan,	16. Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, MP, 17. Shri N.S. Jnanadesikan, MP, 18. Shri E M Sudarsan Natchiappan, MP, 19. Shri M. Arunachalam, 20. Shri S. Peter Alphons, 21. Shri N.S. V. Chittan, 22. Shri Anbarasu, 23. Shri K. Paramali, 24. Shri Krishna Swamy, ex-MP, 25. Shri D. Sudarsanam, 26. Shri K.S. Alagiri, 27. Shri V. Rajasekharan, 28. Shri Tamil Aruvai Maniyan, 29. Shri Vijaya Raghavan, 30. Shri Abbas Ibrahim