<p>Former Union minister G K Vasan, who broke away from the Congress on November 3 to revive the Tamil Maanila Congress, has said he is committed to bring back the “Kamaraj rule” in Tamil Nadu and he will steer clear of the BJP, whose idealogy was different from his party.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Vasan, who was on his first visit to Delhi after quitting the Congress citing lack of democracy in the state unit of the party, said his party’s primary objective was to rebuild its organisation in Tamil Nadu and not look for alliances.<br /><br />He said Tamil Nadu was headed for a unique political situation where the ruling AIADMK and the main opposition DMK were facing a crisis of credibility and they would not be in a position to win the support of the people in the 2016 Assembly polls.<br /><br />Dismissing the possibility of an understanding between his party and the BJP, which is also looking for a bigger role in Tamil Nadu, Vasan told Deccan Herald, “Our ideology is to follow the principles of the late Kamaraj who was one of the tallest Congress leaders in the country. As chief minister of TN, Kamaraj set a role model for us to follow in politics and governance... Where is the question of going with the BJP when we are going to follow the path shown by Kamaraj?”<br /><br />Vasan’s assertion came as BJP chief Amit Shah made his foray into Tamil Nadu on Saturday with a rally where leaders from other parties were welcomed into the fold.<br />Vasan said his party’s strength was evident from a massive rally at Trichy where nearly one lakh people turned up when he relaunched his late father G K Moopanar’s party.<br /><br />Admitting that the situation in Tamil Nadu today was different from 1996 when his father, together with DMK chief M Karunanidhi, created a new alliance to win the Assembly polls, Vasan said, “We came out of the Congress after 12 years because we realised that we could not do anything remaining in it.”<br /><br />Vasan refused to criticise Congress president Sonia Gandhi or vice-president Rahul Gandhi for his exit from the party.<br /><br /> He said he had no quarrels with any Congress leader, including Rahul Gandhi, but he had to leave the party to respond “to the lakhs of Congress workers who felt that the Congress could no longer serve the aspirations of the people”.<br /><br />He parried a question on whether his party would enter into an alliance with the Congress like the breakaway Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party had done in Maharashtra until the last polls.<br /><br />“Once we are the dominant force, the question is not whether we will align with anybody. It will be for other parties to decide on their future course,” he said.<br /><br />Vasan was introduced to politics by his father G K Moopanar at a party conference held at Trichy in 1996, the year Moopanar floated Tamil Maanila Congress in protest against Congress central leadership’s decision to strike an alliance with AIADMK without consulting the state party. After Moopanar’s death, Vasan merged the party with the Congress in 2002.<br /></p>
<p>Former Union minister G K Vasan, who broke away from the Congress on November 3 to revive the Tamil Maanila Congress, has said he is committed to bring back the “Kamaraj rule” in Tamil Nadu and he will steer clear of the BJP, whose idealogy was different from his party.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Vasan, who was on his first visit to Delhi after quitting the Congress citing lack of democracy in the state unit of the party, said his party’s primary objective was to rebuild its organisation in Tamil Nadu and not look for alliances.<br /><br />He said Tamil Nadu was headed for a unique political situation where the ruling AIADMK and the main opposition DMK were facing a crisis of credibility and they would not be in a position to win the support of the people in the 2016 Assembly polls.<br /><br />Dismissing the possibility of an understanding between his party and the BJP, which is also looking for a bigger role in Tamil Nadu, Vasan told Deccan Herald, “Our ideology is to follow the principles of the late Kamaraj who was one of the tallest Congress leaders in the country. As chief minister of TN, Kamaraj set a role model for us to follow in politics and governance... Where is the question of going with the BJP when we are going to follow the path shown by Kamaraj?”<br /><br />Vasan’s assertion came as BJP chief Amit Shah made his foray into Tamil Nadu on Saturday with a rally where leaders from other parties were welcomed into the fold.<br />Vasan said his party’s strength was evident from a massive rally at Trichy where nearly one lakh people turned up when he relaunched his late father G K Moopanar’s party.<br /><br />Admitting that the situation in Tamil Nadu today was different from 1996 when his father, together with DMK chief M Karunanidhi, created a new alliance to win the Assembly polls, Vasan said, “We came out of the Congress after 12 years because we realised that we could not do anything remaining in it.”<br /><br />Vasan refused to criticise Congress president Sonia Gandhi or vice-president Rahul Gandhi for his exit from the party.<br /><br /> He said he had no quarrels with any Congress leader, including Rahul Gandhi, but he had to leave the party to respond “to the lakhs of Congress workers who felt that the Congress could no longer serve the aspirations of the people”.<br /><br />He parried a question on whether his party would enter into an alliance with the Congress like the breakaway Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party had done in Maharashtra until the last polls.<br /><br />“Once we are the dominant force, the question is not whether we will align with anybody. It will be for other parties to decide on their future course,” he said.<br /><br />Vasan was introduced to politics by his father G K Moopanar at a party conference held at Trichy in 1996, the year Moopanar floated Tamil Maanila Congress in protest against Congress central leadership’s decision to strike an alliance with AIADMK without consulting the state party. After Moopanar’s death, Vasan merged the party with the Congress in 2002.<br /></p>
