The dissident legislators of the Tamil Maanila Congress who had opposed its merger with the Congress have floated a new party called the Tamil Maanila Kamaraj Congress and registered it with the Election Commission.
D Komaradoss, president of the new party and its leader in the Tamil Nadu assembly, said on Friday that the group of four legislators had requested Speaker K Kalimuthu to recognise it.
Komaradoss also requested All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to allot the Sattankulam seat, for which a by-election is to be held on January 18, to his party, as the late legislator from the area, S S Mani Nadar, belonged to his group.
He welcomed the state government's decision to provide 'free lunch' to farmers, and said it would go a long way in mitigating their sufferings.
