AIADMK yesterday threatened to review ties with ally BJP if Mr Annalamalai isn’t reigned in.
Chennai:
Miffed by the state BJP chief K Annamalai’s tacit indication that Tamil Nadu Opposition party AIADMK icon and former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was convicted in a disproportionate assets case, the party today passed a resolution calling him “inexperienced, irresponsible, and motivated”. AIADMK yesterday threatened to review ties with ally BJP if Mr Annalamalai isn’t reigned in.
Mr Annamalai’s interview on Jayalalithaa has hurt AIADMK cadre, the resolution said, pointing out that the iconic leader was instrumental in helping the BJP come to power for the first time in 1998.
A meeting of AIADMK district secretaries started earlier this morning amid friction with ally BJP. Though the meeting was called to discuss new membership enrollment, it also slammed K Annamalai’s remark.
The BJP, too, yesterday hit back at senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar for threatening to review the alliance, saying, “there can be no big brother in alliance”.
“Annamalai is not qualified to be a state president of a party. He should mind his words. We suspect he doesn’t want the alliance to continue nor does he want Prime Minister Modi to win again,” D Jayakumar had said,
Although Jayalalithaa’s aide VK Sasikala and a few others were ultimately convicted by the Supreme Court in a disproportionate assets case in which the former Chief Minister was the prime accused, Jayalalithaa died before the final verdict. So while the top court’s verdict nullified the favourable verdict by the Karnataka High Court, it did not convict her technically.
Responding to this development, BJP state Vice President Narayanan Thirupati today said, “Annamalai has his right to say”. On the future of alliance he added, “time will tell, we have nearly a year for polls”.
The actions of the state BJP chief often raises doubts in the AIADMK camp whether the former IPS officer is acting as the mouthpiece of the party’s central leadership.
In March, he had spoken against allying with the AIADMK for the 2024 election, leaving senior AIADMK leaders, who formed the long-awaited alliance with the BJP after Jayalalithaa’s death, fuming. Jayalalithaa had not forged an alliance with the BJP for a long time despite friendly ties, considering the northern party a misfit in Dravidian politics.