Former Cong leader Vasan's to launch new party on 28 November

Chennai: Hectic preparations are on by former Union Minister G K Vasan, who broke away from the Congress,and his camp for the launch of their new party on 28 November at Tiruchirappalli, which will be a show of his strength among the supporters of the faction-ridden state unit of the national party.

Prominent leaders of Vasan group, including former MLA Peter Alphonse, are on a whirlwind tour of the state, meeting supporters to finalise organisational set up of the party at the local level ahead of the 28 November meeting.

Vasan, while quiting Congress on 3 November faulting the central observer’s role in the state unit, hopes to formally put in place on the day of launch his party units in “at least 25 districts out of 32 in Tamil Nadu,” party sources said.

Former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president and a Vasan loyalist B S Gnanadesikan told PTI the name and flag of the new party were likely to be announced earlier than expected.

Vasan had earlier said the name and flag of the new party will be announced on November 28 at the launch (public) meeting in Tiruchirappalli.

“I hope the name will be finalised in a day or two and most probably the name and flag will be announced next week ahead of the Tirchirappalli meeting,” Gnanadesikan, who quit as TNCC chief on October 30 apparently over his ’neglect’ by AICC, said.

Another senior leader, declining to be named, said the leadership “will go in for a new name (which is ready) as certain glitches in getting the name of Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC)”, founded by Vasan’s father G K Moopanar in 1996, “could take much longer to be reconciled.”

After Moopanar’s death, TMC merged with Congress in 2002. The ‘rallying’ of Congress’ supporters at the meeting would “rebut” the rebuke of senior leader P Chidambaram stand that Vasan was a mere “branch of the (Congress) tree” that has fallen, he added.

Largescale preparations are afoot in Tiruchirappalli to make the meeting at the G Corner grounds a grand event. Former MLA M Rajasekaran, who is part of the organising team, said “the stage itself will be 60 feet in length and 42 feet in breadth.”

Seating arrangements had been made for 50,000 participants. Also, six giant LED TV screens, would be put up, Rajasekaran, who was expelled from Congress last week for siding with Vasan, said.

Interestingly, Narendra Modi as BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate then addressed a well-attended meet at the same venue on September 26 last year. Vasan’s men are working hard to put up a similar grand show of strength by reining in as many prominent Congress faces as they could.

PTI