Six Coimbatore Congressmen suspended from party

COIMBATORE: Six Congress members from Coimbatore, including the state secretary of the party's trade union wing were suspended from the primary membership of the party on Sunday for gheraoing Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president EVKS Elangovan two weeks ago.
The suspended men who belong to the Chidambaram faction have decided to approach party central high command stating that district level party leaders don't have the power to expel them.
But V M C MAnoharan, urban district president of Congress who issued the expulsion orders said the action was taken only after approval from the party headquarters in Chennai. The men have been identified as Kovai Selvan, secretary of state INTUC, Thirumurthy, former town panchayat president, Srinivasan, former councillor, Rafiq, district president of minorities, Hariharan, district president of Seva Dal and Somu, district president of Congress party. Manoharan warned that disciplinary action would be taken against other functionaries too if they indulge in anti - party activities.''
"TNCC state president EVKS Elangovan had attended a meeting held at Sivananda Colony here on January 30. He was waylaid by the six men who shouted slogans against him and attempted to attack him. However, other cadres intervened and he escaped unhurt,'' Manoharan told reporters. Meanwhile, the suspended members convened a press conference later in the day to refute the charges. "Dravidar Kazhagam conducted a meeting to condemn attempts to build a temple for Nadhuram Godse on January 30. But Dravidar Kazhagam as well as other outfits that participated in the meeting were LTTE supporters who in the past had staged protests to release the convicts in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case. Why should a Congress leader like Elangovan participate in the meeting organized by LTTE sympathisers? We waylaid him to seek an explanation," said Kovai Selvan.
"Besides, only the state disciplinary action committee of the party has the right to take action against us. The TNCC state president or local leaders have no right to take action against us. We plan to discuss the matter with P Chidambaram and his son Karthi Chidambaram," he added.