Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 11 : Tamil Nadu Mahila Congress president Hazeena Syed strongly criticised the party's state unit president K Selvaperunthagai, citing negligence towards women members of the party. Her criticism came after she was not given a ticket in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Speaking to ANI, she alleged negligence in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu due to the "mismanagement and greed" of Selvaperunthagai.
"We love our party and our leader, but we have been deceived in the name of 33 per cent women's reservation. The Assembly Elections are underway across 5 states/UT in the country. We have been neglected in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, all because of the mismanagement and the greed of the state Congress Committee President," Syed noted.
Furthermore, Syed criticised Selvaperunthagai, saying that he cut her ticket, which was previously approved by the party's Central Election Committee, due to his "biased interest".
"Several other NSUI cadres and I have been working for a long time. All of us applied for a ticket. Why can 9 seats, which is 33% reservation of the 28 seats, be given? BJP has fielded 5 women candidates out of 27 seats, while Selvaperunthagai cut my ticket due to his biased interest, which was approved by the CEC. My name was there in the Krishnagiri constituency, but Girish Chodankar intervened and said Chellakumar is a senior leader," she said.
Syed said that Kharge openly directed the party's Central Election Committee not to give a ticket to A Chellakumar, who she alleged abused her in public.
"Mallikarjun Kharge openly told the CEC that the Krishnagiri seat cannot be given to Chellakumar because he abuses me in public. Then Rahul Gandhi intervenes and says, no, Chellakumar should apologise to you. And then the CEC decides if Chellakumar apologises, the seat may be given to Chellakumar and I may be given Mayiladuthurai," she emphasised.
Syed expressed gratitude to Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram, saying, "I owe my special thanks and special respect to Karti Chidambaram, who fought for the rights of women. He fought with Priyanka Gandhi also for our seat. But, he could not help it. All the tickets have been sold out with the sole and sole indulgence of the Congress President, Mallikarjun Kharge. You may have political understandings with the PCC President. Does it mean at the cost of poor working women of the party?" she asked.
The remarks come ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections 2026, scheduled to take place in a single phase on April 23. Counting is scheduled for May 4.
The main electoral contest is expected between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which also includes Congress, DMDK, and the VCK, and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by AIADMK with the BJP and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) as allies. Actor-turned-politician Vijay is set to make his electoral debut with TVK, attempting to turn the upcoming elections into a three-way contest.
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