Cong gives clean chit to Elangovan

Congress today gave a clean chit to its Tamil Nadu unit chief E V K S Elangovan, who found himself caught in the thick of a controversy in the wake of remarks by him perceived to be against former Union Minister P Chidambaram and his son.
"The TNCC President has himself said that he was not alluding or referring to any person. He was talking about deserters," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters here.
He was asked whether Elangovan has been summoned here and admonished by the party high command over his remarks against Chidambaram and his son, Karti.
"Show me proof. I deny and reject all such speculation," Singhvi said when some reporters insisted that the Pradesh Congress Committee chief had indeed spoken against the former finance minister.

Earlier in the day, Elangovan met Congress General Secretary Mukul Wasnik, but steered clear of questions whether the party high command had admonished him on the Chidambaram issue.
"I met Wasnik, who is in-charge of party affairs in Tamil Nadu, to finalise his tour programme for the state," was Elangovan's response to a volley of questions from reporters on the issue.

The TNCC chief's sudden visit to Delhi had given rise to speculation that the Congress leadership had expressed its displeasure over his statement last week.
Elangovan had yesterday remained unfazed by reports that the Congress high command had reprimanded him over his reported attack on Chidambaram and his son and refused to withdraw any of his controversial remarks.

In the wake of former Union Minister Jayanthi Natarajan quitting the party a few days back, Elangovan had said that Tamil Nadu Congress would certainly attain salvation if one more person quits along with his heir.
That was taken to be a snide attack on Chidambaram and Karti. Chidambaram had on Saturday met Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and is believed to have discussed the issue with him.
Karti is in the eye of storm for reportedly lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "political knowledge and acumen" in steering BJP to its recent successes.