Irony died a thousand deaths on 17 February 2024 when K. Selvaperunthagai was appointed by the Congress high command as the President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee.
“Hon’ble Congress President has appointed Shri. K. Selvaperunthagai as the President of Tamil Nadu Pradesh Congress Committee with immediate effect.”, the announcement signed by Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said.
Selvaperunthagai, will be replacing KS Alagiri, whose tenure as the party head in Tamil Nadu was marked with disgruntlement with many openly rebelling against him.
About Selvaperunthagai
Selvaperunthagai’s appointment as Congress party head in Tamil Nadu is ridden with ironies. Though has been with the Congress since 2010, he was earlier with the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) which had advoated for the release of and even today has no qualms in hugging and sharing stage with killers of Rajiv Gandhi.
And guess what? Selvaperunthagai himself was a big supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Ironically, he is currently a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Sriperumbudur, the place where former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE terrorists.
During the 2016 Assembly elections, Congress leader D Yashoda, who had previously served as the representative for Sriperumbudur in 1980, 1984, 2001, and 2006, raised concerns about Selvaperunthagai’s candidacy, alleging his support for LTTE. She had alleged that Selvaperunthangai is a staunch supporter of the LTTE and had joined the Congress with the motive of safeguarding his alleged “ill-gotten wealth”.
Even back then she questioned how the Congress, of all parties, could nominate Selvaperunthagai, who was associated with the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), a pro-LTTE party, in Sriperumbudur – the same location where the LTTE carried out a suicide bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
If that wasn’t enough, Selvaperunthagai had even attacked the Congress office during his VCK days. Referring to him as a “political tourist” known for frequently switching political affiliations, Ms. Yasodha had highlighted that that in December 2008, when Selvaperunthangai was in the VCK, he was involved had “ransacking” the Tamil Nadu Congress party office.
Her letter note to Sonia Gandhi in 2016 pointed out that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa detained him under the Goondas Act, and he faced imprisonment on charges related to the murder of an auditor. According to his own submission to the Election Commission, he is associated with 12 criminal cases involving serious offenses, as outlined in the letter.
According to reports, in July 2015, police attempted to prevent Selvaperunthangai from approaching Rahul Gandhi, citing his “criminal record and connections to the LTTE.” However, through what was described as “manipulation”, he ultimately managed to share the stage.
Why Selvaperunthagai?
In January, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) appointed KS Alagiri to lead a 23-member election committee for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, as announced by Party General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, according to IANS news agency. The committee comprises notable leaders like K. Selva Perunthagai, P. Chidambaram, Kumari Anathan, among others.
However, the party was marred by factionalism with three factions, each supporting different leaders – K.S. Alagiri, K. Selvaperunthagai, and former IAS officer turned politician Sasikanth Senthil.
Speculation about a leadership change was widespread, fueled by dissatisfaction within certain factions regarding Alagiri’s leadership, citing alleged inactivity in state Congress affairs. However, the high command remained undecided, wary of potential disruptions within the party.
Selvaperunthagai’s appointment as Tamil Nadu Congress Committee head is seen as yet another instance of the Dravidianization of the Congress party.
The Congress in order to keep its ally DMK in good humour has been adopting the Dravidianist approach. Be it celebrating EV Ramasamy Naicker (hailed as ‘Periyar’ by his followers) who had called for the annihilation of the Congress and Mahatma Gandhi, or calling India as a ‘union of states’ and not as a nation, the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress has been kowtowing the DMK.
Selvaperunthagai is said to share a great equation with the DMK leadership. The electoral success of Congress in Tamil Nadu is hinged on its alliance with the DMK. Notably, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress secured nine out of the ten seats it contested as part of this alliance. For the Congress, it is a question of survival this Lok Sabha election. They believe that they stand a chance to send a decent number of MPs only from Tamil Nadu and hence hitchhiking on the DMK votebank is inevitable. And who better than someone who is more a Dravidianist and aligns with the DMK!
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