New Delhi: Congress leaders from Tamil Nadu should be taken into confidence while deciding on the issue of alliances in the state for the Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi was told on Saturday.
Party leaders from Puducherry told Gandhi, who held interactions with AICC delegates from various states, that Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had met DMK chief M Karunanidhi in Chennai recently but the state PCC was not aware.
Reports had it that Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president BS Gnanadesikan was not present but his predecessor KV Thangkablu was present during the Azad-Karunanidhi meeting, which raised eyebrows in party circles.
Interestingly, Congress leaders from Tamil Nadu were elated when the controversial issue was brought to the notice of Gandhi by their Puducherry counterparts, sources said.
The issue was also reiterated by Tamil Nadu Congress leaders during their meeting with Gandhi later, a senior leader said.
This apart, the Puducherry leaders opined that the significant role played by Congress in releasing Tamil Nadu fishermen from Sri Lankan jails is not being highlighted.
According to AV Subramaniam, president of Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee, a Congress MP from coastal Tamil Nadu and a former minister from the Union Territory met Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa in this connection.
"The effort of Congress leaders was pivotal in releasing the imprisoned fishermen. However, other parties are taking the credit for our efforts," he claimed.
The speakers also drew Gandhi`s attention to problems involved in reimbursement of subsidy for LPG cylinders and sought to ease the process by deducting the subsidy at the time of payment by consumers.
