Cakewalk for Thangabalu ?

CHENNAI, June 8: A staunch supporter of AICC chief Sitaram Kesri, former union minister K V Thangabalu is all set to take over as the TNCC president on June 9, and may well be elected unopposed having decimated his rivals, Kumari Ananthan and Vazhapadi K Ramamurthy.

Thangabalu has ensured that most of the 569 PCC members elected in the State are his supporters, while Ananthan and Ramamurthy, former PCC presidents, have been hopelessly outnumbered.

Predictably, the losers in the race, Ananthan and Ramamurthy have criticised the manner in which the elections had been held in the State and accused Thangabalu of manipulating the polls with the help of Pradesh Returning Officer Jagdish Tytler. However, Tytler maintains that the elections were held in a free and straightforward manner.