“Thangkabalu had informed the Congress high command that he would not fight any general election then”, it said.
He had conveyed his decision to senior Congress leaders Gulam Nabi Azad and Mukul Wasnik, who look after Tamil Nadu unit affairs, saying “new faces shall get chance”.
Thangkabalu, who was humbled in Salem Lok Sabha constituency in 2009, is the second prominent leader after Vasan to opt out of the race in the backdrop of Congress failing to strike any alliance.
There is also speculation that former minister Jayanti Natarajan is not keen to contest from the Sriperumbudur seat and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram wants his son Karti to take the poll plunge from his bastion Sivaganga.
