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
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.