B. Manickam Tagore appointed as Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president

Three-time Lok Sabha member and Rahul Gandhi loyalist B. Manickam Tagore was appointed president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) on Saturday. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) made the decision after K. Selvaperunthagai requested AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge to relieve him as the TNCC chief.

Mr. Tagore’s appointment comes at a time when the Congress has left its trusted ally, the DMK, and joined the government led by the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). The new alliance is likely to continue for the upcoming local body and Lok Sabha elections. A vocal critic of the DMK, he called for “share in power”, thus causing friction in the party’s alliance with the Dravidian major. The Congress joined Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s Cabinet after the polls.

Though Mr. Selvaperunthagai oversaw a remarkable victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he also presided over a difficult period for the TNCC marked by internal squabbles. Public remarks by leaders had threatened to disrupt the alliance with the DMK in the Assembly election.

Party sources said that Mr. Selvaperunthagai could not enlist the support of party colleagues during his tenure and that his removal was widely expected after TNCC vice-president A. Gopanna wrote to AICC leaders about Mr. Selvaperunthagai’s recent interview, in which he attacked the TVK government and Mr. Vijay.

Mr. Tagore was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Virudhunagar constituency for the first time in 2009, and later in 2019 and 2024. He is presently the whip of the Congress in the Lok Sabha. He is also the AICC in-charge of Andhra Pradesh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, State Selection Committee Observer of Haryana, and a Member of the Parliamentary Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and the Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes.

Mr. Tagore joined the National Students Union of India (NSUI) — the student wing of the Congress — in 1994 and later became its State district general secretary. In 1998, he became its national president of the All India National Students Union Of India. He also held the post of national general secretary of the Indian Youth Congress between 2002-05 and served as election commissioner of the IYC in 2008.

Extending his wishes to the new TNCC chief, Mr. Selvaperunthagai said, “I extend my heartfelt wishes to Manickam Tagore who has been appointed as president of TNCC. Wishing you success and continued service towards welfare of the people.”