Will work towards winning all 39 LS seats: TN Cong chief

Chennai: Newly appointed Tamil Nadu Congress chief, K S Alagiri Sunday said the party will work towards bagging all the 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state and the one in neighbouring Puducherry in the general elections.

Interacting with the media a day after his escalation, Alagiri emphasised on strengthening the party's organisational structure, which will be a key factor winning the polls. "Today our secular friends are aiming for 40 constituencies in both TN and Puducherry in the upcoming elections.

Congress party will also toil for this," Alagiri said. "My first target is to strengthen the party structure. A political party with a strong structure only will come out victorious. I will be working with other senior leaders for this," he added.

In a move that was taken months before the 2019 general elections, a former Lok Sabha MP Alagiri was appointed as the president of the Tamil Nadu Pradesh Congress Committee Saturday replacing the incumbent S Thirunavakkarasar.

Taking a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led state government, the Congress chief said both the regimes had hampered development in the country and the state.

"They lack understanding of economics, agriculture and society, and because of this we have seen backwardness in almost all sectors," he said. "Development has declined in agriculture, GST has irked the middle class, issues of unemployment has increased," he added.

Alagiri also thanked Congress president Rahul Gandhi for elevating him to a position which was occupied by behemoths like late K Kamaraj and E V Ramasamy (Periyar). "In the 40-year-old political life as a Congressman, I have continued to be a simple party worker," he said, crediting senior party leaders P Chidambaram and Mukul Wasnik for being instrumental in his appointment.

Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) President M K Stalin Sunday conveyed his wishes to Alagiri and his team of working presidents. "I convey my heartful wishes to former Lok Sabha MP K S Alagiri for his appointment as TNPCC president," Stalin said in a statement, extending his wishes to four other appointees too.

The Congress, an ally of the DMK in the state, also appointed H Vasantha Kumar, K Jayakumar, M K Vishnu Prasad and Mayura Jayakumar as new working presidents to assist Alagiri. Regarded as a loyalist of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, Alagiri was elected to Parliament from Cuddalore, coastal district of Tamil Nadu, in 2009.

(With inputs from PTI)