Congress has constituted a five-member fact-finding committee to review its performance in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly election, where it contested 28 seats as part of the DMK-led alliance but won only five.
As part of the internal review, the party had recently summoned candidates from the 23 losing constituencies to Sathyamurthy Bhavan in Chennai. The discussions were held by AICC in-charges for Tamil Nadu, Girish Chodankar and Nivedith Alva, along with state-level office-bearers.
During the meetings, candidates and district presidents reportedly traded blame over the defeats. The review also indicated that some candidates did not spend the funds provided by the party leadership for campaign expenses.
The newly formed committee will examine both the reasons for the losses and allegations of financial irregularities related to election expenditure. The panel includes former MP Jayakumar, TNCC vice-presidents Hidayathulla and Swarna Sethuraman, former AICC secretary Meiyappan, and Kamalatchi.
The committee is expected to begin its inquiry soon and submit a report within 60 days. Delhi sources said that if irregularities are established, those found responsible may be denied future tickets and party posts.
