Reacting sharply to AIADMK leader C.Ve. Shanmugam’s attack on him for certain remarks against former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai, BJP State president K. Annamalai on Sunday said the former Minister speaks differently “before and after 6 p.m”.
Those who were used to “collecting” when they were Ministers will assume that the En Mann En Makkal yatra (undertaken by Mr. Annamalai) was for “collecting money”, he said in Coimbatore, adding that women and youth supported the yatra more as they wanted a change.
Mr. Annamalai clarified that he had not spoken ill of former Chief Minister Annadurai. “History is history. Annadurai was a great leader who worked for the growth of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Indicating that the BJP’s alliance with the AIADMK was only for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Mr. Annamalai said his party would come to power in Tamil Nadu by relying on its own strength in 2026 and not as a “B team or C team of any other party.”
He told the media after taking part in an event organised by the party, in which 73 couples got married, that the BJP respected self-dignity and stood for principled politics.
There is no need for the BJP to come to power by bending to another party. It is an individual party with individual ideologies. BJP workers are working hard and the party does not see anyone as a demi-god in Tamil Nadu politics. “Sanatana Dharma is our life breath. I came to politics to protect Tamil culture and the Sanatana Dharma,” he said.
He added that coalitions were important and there may be differences between alliance partners, “but, we cannot be slaves.” There is no problem in the coalition with the AIADMK and there is regular interaction with AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, he said.
The BJP leader was confident that Tamil Nadu would get a favourable order from the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Supreme Court.
However, these issues need to be settled amicably through talks between the Chief Ministers of the two States, he said.