Chennai: AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday appointed Virudhunagar MP B Manickam Tagore as the new president of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC), replacing K Selvaperunthagai, who had recently requested the party leadership to relieve him of the post.Chief minister C Joseph Vijay congratulated Tagore on his appointment. “Heartfelt congratulations to Manickam Tagore on being appointed as the new TNCC president. May your service to the people continue to grow from strength to strength,” Vijay posted on X.A three-time Lok Sabha MP, Tagore played a key role in Congress’ decision to part ways with DMK and align with TVK after the 2026 assembly election. Even before the polls, he had been critical of DMK and consistently advocated coalition govt and power sharing.Tagore was also involved in public disagreements with DMK leaders during seat-sharing negotiations and had differences with Selvaperunthagai over party affairs. He resigned as chairman of the election management and coordination committee, citing dissatisfaction with the candidate selection process.Currently, Tagore serves as the Congress whip in the Lok Sabha and is the AICC in-charge for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He had defeated MDMK leader Vaiko in the Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency in 2009.Selvaperunthagai, who assumed charge as TNCC president in 2024, had been indicating since April that he was unwilling to continue in the role despite having more than six months left in his tenure.
