In a prominent note of dissent, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Saturday questioned the appointment of a large number of officials for the grand old party's Tamil Nadu unit and said that these "jumbo comittees" serve no purpose since they only diminish accountability.
The Congress had, earlier in the day, announced a major rejig in its Tamil Nadu unit ahead of the Assembly polls this year and set up key election-related panels including senior leaders P Chidambaram and Mani Shankar Aiyar in them.
The party had named 32 vice presidents, 57 general secretaries and 104 secretaries in the jumbo state unit.
Questioning the move, Karti took to his official Twitter handle and said that "these jumbo committees serve no purpose".
"These jumbo committees serve no purpose. 32 VP, 57 GS, 104 Secretaries. None will have any authority which means no accountability," tweeted Karti P Chidambaram, also tagging several senior Congress leaders in the post.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has approved the proposal of the appointment of vice presidents, general secretaries, treasurer, secretaries, executive committee, and presidents of District Congress Committees, Pradesh election committee, election coordination committee, election propaganda/ campaign committee, publicity committee, manifesto committee, media coordination committee and election management team of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC), the party said.
Interestingly, the appointments include only one treasurer of the party's state unit, Ruby R Manoharan, according to the statement issued by Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation K C Venugopal.
The 56-member executive committee set up by the party is headed by TNCC president K S Alagiri and includes the likes of former Union ministers Chidambaram and Aiyar, and MPs A Chellakumar, B Manickam Tagore, Karti Chidambaram, S Jothimani, K Jayakumar, among others.The pradesh election committee is also headed by Alagiri with Congress Legislature Party leader K R Ramasamy, Chidambaram and Aiyar being part of the 34-member panel.
The 19-member election coordination panel is headed by former MP E V K S Elangovan, according to the party statement.
The manifesto committee will be headed by former MP S Peter Alphonse and includes the likes of Aiyar, Karti Chidambaram, Tagore and Jothimani.
MP Su. Thirunnavukkarasar has been appointed chairman of the election propaganda/campaign committee, while K V Thangkabalu has been named chairman of the publicity committee.
CLP leader Ramasamy will head the election management team, the party said.
The appointments come months ahead of the Assembly polls, likely to take place in April-May.
The Congress is likely to contest the polls as part of the Opposition alliance headed by the DMK to take on the ruling AIADMK coalition.
Meanwhile, the Congress also appointed Krishanu Baruah chief of NSUI's Assam unit.
(With inputs from agencies)
