A few hours after Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) cadres started their protest at the party’s headquarters in Chennai, Karur Member of Parliament (MP) Jothimani on Saturday took to social media to support them, alleging that the party was selecting the wrong candidates, preferring money power over transparency. The Congress leader slammed the party and said that it was not ready to take their suggestions and added that even candidates who have winning chances were being ignored.
“I am aware of the agitated state of minds of Congress cadres. There is no transparency in the selection of constituencies and candidates. There are many mistakes, about which I had raised questions. There is no response yet. The heartless leaders sucking on the blood of cadres are not listening to the voice of truth,” Jothimani said.
She said that the selection was unacceptable since even people who have worked for the party for several years were being sidelined. She said, “It is unacceptable that those who have worked for the party for many years, those who have remained true loyalists and those who have winning chances are being ignored. It is atrocious that only those with money power could get seats.”
“The Congress party was built with the blood and sweat of its cadres. Nobody has the right to erase this,” she added.
Recalling her candidature as an MP, Jothimani said, “I would not have been an MP today if my leader Rahul Gandhi had considered money power as more important. These leaders are not only disloyal to their cadres but disloyal to the leader who trusted them. We cadre should protect the party and its dignity.”
Jothimani’s tweets came as members of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee started a fast against the ‘wrong selection of candidates' in front of Sathyamurthy Bhavan on Saturday.
“My blood boils seeing the wrong done to loyalists of the party. I will continue to fight. I will continue to be the voice of cadres. We are strong enough to face not just our enemies but our traitors too,” she said.
The situation and the statement by the Karur MP seems to have not gone down well with other senior Congress leaders like Manickam Tagore and Mohan Kumaramangalam, who took to Twitter to express their displeasure. The duo however did not mention anyone in their tweets.
அன்னை சோனியாகாந்தி அவர்கள் தலைமையில் நடக்கும் மத்திய தேர்தல் குழு வில் எடுக்கும் முடிவு ஒவ்வொரு உண்மையான காங்கிர்ஸ் தொண்டனுக்கும் நியாமான முடிவாககிடைக்கும் ஆன சிலர் விளம்பரதிற்காக காங்கிரஸ் இயக்கதிற்கு மிக பெரிய இழிவை ஏற்படுத்தி எதிரிகளுக்கு உதவும் துரோகிகளை கண்டுகொள்ளுங்கள்
— Manickam Tagore .Bமாணிக்கம் தாகூர்.ப (@manickamtagore) March 13, 2021
Jothimani contested from Karur constituency during the Parliamentary elections in 2019 and won the seat. Recently, she accompanied Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the state on the campaign trail in western parts of Tamil Nadu.
The statement from Jothimani also comes a day after a Congress functionary Jansirani, granddaughter of late Congress leader AS Ponnammal, accused TNCC president KS Alagiri of sidelining her for money, stating that she was not given the Nilakottai seat as promised.