What began as a bitter internal dispute over a denied election ticket has now exploded into a full-blown public war within the Tamil Nadu Congress with former Tamil Nadu Pradesh Mahila Congress President M. Hazeena Syed taking on not just All India Mahila Congress (AIMC) President Alka Lamba, but now also Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil, whom she has accused of being a fake feminist who abandoned women leaders when it mattered most.
The Backstory: A Ticket Denied, A Resignation Tendered
Hazeena Syed is no ordinary party functionary. A three-decade Congress loyalist, she rose from NSUI through Youth Congress, Mahila Congress, and the main organisation sacrificing, by her own account, health, wealth, and family along the way. Her breaking point came when, despite the Congress CEC and Rahul Gandhi personally pushing for her to receive a 2026 Assembly ticket, she was denied the opportunity and “humiliated in the process.” On 10 April 2026, she resigned both as State President of the Tamil Nadu Mahila Congress and as a primary party member, naming TNCC President Selvaperunthagai, former in-charge Srivella Prasad, AICC Secretary Pushpa Raj, and Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar as those responsible.
Alka Lamba Hits Back and Opens Pandora’s Box
Hours after the public resignation, AIMC President Alka Lamba issued a formal expulsion notice against Hazeena for “anti-party activities” – a move widely seen as tone-deaf, given Hazeena had already quit. The response it triggered was explosive. In a midnight email to Lamba and in parallel X posts, Hazeena accused her of spending membership funds on personal luxury, alleged “illegitimate account transactions” for which she claimed to have legal proof and demanded a full audit of the AIMC accounts. On harassment, she was direct: “One of the main reasons for my resignation is your harassment – mind your job and shut up.” She also attacked Lamba’s Congress credentials: “You jumped from Aam Aadmi Party to ruin Congress – stay quiet, else I will fix you.”
Responding to the allegations, Sasikanth Senthil wrote, “I strongly condemn the allegations made by former Tamil Nadu Mahila Congress President, Mrs. Haseena Syed. It is deeply inappropriate to target Congress leadership out of personal resentment or disappointment.”
He further rejected claims regarding women’s safety within the party, stating: “The claim that women are unsafe within the organisation is far from truth and completely baseless. From the very beginning, women have played a central role in the Congress, taking on significant responsibilities with their rights, dignity, and safety consistently upheld.”
Senthil also argued that individual grievances were being misrepresented, adding: “Personal grievances cannot be repackaged as institutional failure. Such unfounded allegations not only mislead the public but also undermine the sincere contributions of countless women who continue to strengthen the organisation every day.”
He concluded by stating: “Criticism must be rooted in truth—not driven by individual dissatisfaction or denied opportunities.”
I strongly condemn the allegations made by former Tamil Nadu Mahila Congress President, Mrs. Haseena Syed. It is deeply inappropriate to target Congress leadership out of personal resentment or disappointment.
The claim that women are unsafe within the organisation is far from…
— Sasikanth Senthil (@s_kanth) April 12, 2026
However, Haseena Syed responded with a strongly worded rebuttal, directly targeting Senthil’s political experience and role within the party. In a post addressing him, she wrote, “Look who is talking what do u know what is #Nsui politics what is #youthcongress politics Have you got arrested in protests Have you worked for Mahila congress Have you stood in sun & rain for hours without food working for party.”
She further questioned his political rise, stating: “You have not pinned one nail to become an M.P, it was cake walk platter for you, you just came like a king and got our hard work platter from our state which was a stake of one of our hard working cadres…”
Raising the issue of women’s representation, Syed added: “how many times have i appealed to you along with my team for woman reservation, from your own Parliament still your a failure to identity one woman for Avadi district President and your talking about women empowerment.”
She also accused him of failing to support women leaders within the party, stating: “you never stood by the women of Tamilnadu when we fought for our rights during our PEC meeting… you walked away saying sarcastically yeah, yeah they will give its on the table go and take.”
Look who is talking what do u know what is #Nsui politics
what is #youthcongress politics
Have you got arrested in protests
Have you worked for Mahila congress
Have you stood in sun & rain for hours without food working for party
Have you left your family and an infant at home… https://t.co/aMW2E6NELc— M. Hazeena Syed (@SyedHazeena) April 12, 2026
For now, the party that loudly champions women’s empowerment is struggling to explain why one of its most senior women leaders in Tamil Nadu felt she had no choice but to walk out the door.
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