Leader-cadre disconnect should end in TN Cong: Aiyar

People of Tamil Nadu adore the Nehru-Gandhi family, but the Congress which has been out of power in the state for 45 years will continue to ‘helplessly’ depend on Dravidian parties for ‘another 45 years’ if the leader-cadre disconnect continues, says Mani Shankar Aiyar. Often called an in-house critic, the senior Congress leader who hails from the southern state went into in-depth faultfinding of why the party has not been able to galvanise its cadres and return to St George Fort, the seat of the Tamil Nadu Government, at a function here last night. Aiyar’s argument was that the Congress, which has an organisation in the state, is not able to return to power as there is no connection between the leaders and cadres despite having an ‘asset’ in the members of the first family who are respected in great measures by the people. [caption id=“attachment_198629” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“PTI”]  [/caption] “We have been out of Fort St George since 1967. It has been 45 years. We may not see it for the next 45 years. The Congress is there, leaders are there and cadres are also there. But there is no connection between them. That connection has to be made,” he said after release of Tamil version of the book ‘Sonia Gandhi: A Life History’ in Chennai. Tamil Nadu Congress President BS Gnanadesikan, former TNCC president M Krishnasamy and Union Minister of State in PMO V Narayanasamy were also present. Though the Nehru-Gandhi family is adored by people, we have to be “helplessly dependent either on a pallu (an apparent reference to AIADMK led by J Jayalalithaa) or a veshti (an apparent reference to DMK and M Karunanidhi)”. “The (Nehru-Gandhi) family is an asset in Tamil Nadu. They have proven to be an asset. It is a bonding adhesive. We have to use. We should not use the status of somebody else to win or lose,” he said. Aiyar, a former diplomat and Union Minister, narrated several incidents where people of Tamil Nadu waited for hours together to have a glimpse of late Rajiv Gandhi when he vigorously toured the state during 1987-1989 ahead of the Assembly elections to drive home his point that the family is respected by the people. He also suggested that Congress was dependent on Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu and that its status changes every five years depending on the party with which it has an alliance. “I won with a majority of 1.5 lakh in 1991 when we were with Jayalalithaa and I had to lose with the same majority in 1996. I won with a majority of 1.3 lakh in 2004 and a defeat not so high but of 35,000 votes. I lost 1 lakh votes,” he said. Aiyar also used sarcasm to argue that Central leaders from the state do not make any effort to meet with cadres at the party headquarters in Chennai. He also took a dig at the Youth Congress in the state, saying the office bearers who were elected are “nowhere” to be seen. The Congress leader also asked Gnanadesikan to “emulate” Narayanasamy who has led the party to victory in Lok Sabha elections in 2009. PTI