One side is calling six candidates rebels,and another senior leader is openly saying they did nothing wrong . For any party,this kind of public confusion is not small thing ah .
Whole issue started around Assembly election,when six candidates filed nominations before Congress-DMK seat-sharing arrangement was finalized . After that,PPCC chief V. Vaithilingam had asked them to withdraw and even branded them as 'rebels' while warning about disciplinary action.
But then AICC in-charge Girish Chodankar came in with totally different line during press interaction in Puducherry . He publicly backed these six rebel candidates and said,"They have not indulged in any anti-party activities as the Congress party only gave tickets to them,".
And tbh,this is where matter becomes awkward . Because if Congress party only gave tickets to them,then calling them rebels becomes confusing for workers and allies both . Same candidates cannot look official from one side and rebel from another side only.
Few things standing out clearly here:
- Chodankar's support directly clashes with Vaithilingam's earlier stance.
- Vaithilingam had hinted at disciplinary action against six rebel candidates.
- Issue could further strain Congress-DMK relations.
At same time,this is happening after Congress recently severed ties with DMK in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry . Some people are even linking that split to controversial candidacies of these six members . So this is not just small local fight,it has alliance angle also.
A DMK leader also expressed uncertainty about what Congress actually told these candidates . Question being raised is simple: did Congress genuinely ask them to withdraw or not? And if ally itself is unclear,then communication has clearly gone wrong somewhere.
But bigger problem is image . When one leader says action may be taken and another says no anti-party activity happened,ordinary party workers will also wonder whose instruction to follow . This kind of mixed messaging can damage confidence very fast.
Congress now has to deal with internal disagreement,DMK frustration and future election calculations all at same time . Whether leadership can bring everyone on same page is still open question,because right now it feels like nobody outside inner circle knows what real instruction was…
