Expect high drama at Satyamurthi Bhawan

CHENNAI: Congress headquarters Satyamurthi Bhawan is expected to witness some fireworks if the proposed “general council meeting” of the TN Congress Restructuring Committee, a ginger group that was expelled by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K V Thangkabalu recently, gets underway on Tuesday.Despite a ‘ban’ imposed by Thangkabalu on the entry of expelled functionaries into Satyamurthi Bhavan, the restructuring committee has vowed to hold the meeting at the same venue. It has also sought police protection for the meeting.As Satyamurthi Bhavan has already witnessed multiple intra-party wranglings, including an attack by alleged supporters of councillor Chengai Chellappa (the councillor was denied ticket to contest from Tiru-Vi-Ka Nagar constituency), anxiety over the meet is palpable.The power tussle within the TNCC that began ahead of the State Assembly polls continues to haunt it till date. The factional fight in TNCC climaxed when Thangkabalu was accused of favouring his supporters in the distribution of seats in the Assembly polls. He also faced flak for what his detractors called “fighting polls through the backdoor” after getting the Mylapore seat for his wife.A spate of protests, hunger strikes and effigy burnings followed seeking removal of Thangkabalu. A day after the (May 13) elections, 19 party functionaries were expelled, including prominent faces like former Deputy Mayor Karate Thiagarajan and actor S Ve Shekher. Though Thangkabalu quit his post after the poll debacle, the AICC saw no urgency in replacing him as there was not much at stake.That was when veteran leader G A Vadivelu, Jothi Ramalingam (who campaigned for renaming the Government General Hospital here after Rajiv Gandhi) and S M Idayatullah (AICC member and a prominent supporter of G K Vasan) began taking forward the “anti-Thangkabalu movement”. Idayatullah even led a hunger stit in Satyamurthi Bhavan to oust him. After tolerating the group for over two months, Thangkabalu expelled the trio on August 3. The group, however, made it clear that it would hold the “general council” to rejuvenate the party on August 9.