CHENNAI: TNCC chief EVKS Elangovan, who has been at the centre of a storm after his alleged outburst against former Union minister P Chidambaram last week, met the AICC general secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu, Mukul Wasnik, on Monday. Elangovan, who was to call on party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, could not meet them as they were busy with the election campaign in Delhi, party sources said.

They said Elangovan will try to meet the two on Tuesday. But he's likely to return to Chennai in the evening, even if the meeting does not take place.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi played down the reported confrontation between Chidambaram and Elangovan. "The TNCC president has himself said he was not alluding to any person. He was talking about deserters," Singhvi told reporters in Delhi. He refuted reports that Elangovan had been called and admonished by the party brass for his remarks suggesting, without naming them, that Chidambaram and his son Karti should leave Congress.

Elangovan had made the remarks after the resignation of former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Friday.

With Chidambaram camping in the capital for the past few days, ramping up pressure on the party brass to clip Elangovan's wings, the state Congress chief left for Delhi on Sunday, ostensibly to campaign for the party in Tamil-dominated segments, but more importantly to have an opportunity to present his point of view, sources said. When Sonia called Elangovan on Friday and asked him to explain his attack on Chidambaram, he had denied naming the party veteran or his son, sources said. tnn

Source: TOI