Will reply to high command only: PC son tells state unit

In a strong reply to the notice, Karti, who is an executive committee member of TNCC, wrote that only All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the only competent authority to send him a show-cause notice and he would reply to the central command of the party as he is an AICC member.

On January 20, Karti had organised an informal meeting of nearly 300 party members from 234 Assembly constituencies of the state that was named as ‘G67’. At the meeting, he told his supporters to forget the dream of capturing power in 2016 state elections.

Raising the need to project a CM candidate prior to the state elections, he also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his role behind the success of the BJP.

In his reply to TNCC chief EVKS Elangovan,  Karti wrote he neither criticised the party nor its ideals. “Therefore there was nothing to seek or make explanation,” he said. He maintained that it was a private luncheon meet with his supporters. He later told The Indian Express that he stood by what he said about Prime Minister Narednra Modi at the meet. “My focus was not about Modi but about the future of the Congress party in Tamil Nadu. I was trying to share some ideas about a new economic model to be promoted by the Congress different from that of the DMK and the AIADMK,” he said.

Elangovan, however, slammed him. “Nobody will go by his claims that it was a private function. Moreover, I do not understand how he can criticise Congress high command and praise Modi at a time when the whole party is united to fight against the Modi government,” he said.

The infighting in the state Congress unit was visible even after the party was split two months ago. Karti had then crtiticised the manner in which the national leadership had dealt with the state’s leaders.